The Egg and the Stone (1990)

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

This is one of so many successful movies were done by the distinguished dual : writer (Mahmood Abo Zeed) and director (Ali Abd El Khallk) such as (El 'aar) or (The Shame) in (1982), (EL- Keef) or (The Frame of Mind) in (1986), (Garry El Wohoosh) or (The Beasts' Running) in (1987).With (EL- Keef) or (The Frame of Mind) they made a good movie about how people in certain circumstances need to be unconscious (yet by drugs and bad art). This round, the people are unconscious already with their faith in magic and quackery whatever their culture is.One of the best things in here, and there are a lot, is the characterization of the lead character. (Abo Zeed) brilliantly made (Moustataa') as a philosophy teacher who owns all the logic thinking and all the scientific theories, however in a society which – on the contrary – doesn't need any of that. He turned into that capable sorcerer simply because he knows, and teaches, the way of people's thinking, to be the perfect one to manipulate them all along. It's some ironic way to represent the fate of science in a world rejects it. I like many scenes, especially when comedy and satire are discretely braided. For instance; the one where (Moustataa') charms the young wife; who her husband can't deal with her sexually well. That charm was nothing but a good make-up, some confidence, and a cynical improvised spell with all the names of the most fascinating female stars in the Egyptian cinema (that was genius!). Or the scene of the rich women's session where (Moustataa') reads their minds only by the power of logic. And on the top of all; the interrogation scene near the end, which's the movie's perfect climax, where the lead confesses his truth and everybody refuses it, because they want to believe.. in anything, even if it is false ! There are some songs to show the lead character's journey into this world, plus his transformation from thoughtful to deceitful. They assured – with their funny lyrics – the sarcastic satirical spirit of the whole thing.Director of photography (Sa'ed El Shimmi) makes a fine job as always. He manages to smartly present the different atmospheres of the story (the office of Moustataa' as a great modern quack for instance), or to make a good conflict visually (the scenes of Moustataa' and the old quack looked like violent bullfights). Director (Ali Abd El Khallk) tries to end the sense of elongation in the long conversations' scenes by filming them from so many varying angles and different cadres to fasten the pace, and he pulled it off brightly.(Ahmed Zaki) is great both as star and actor. (Mahmood El-Sabba') as the old quack was genuinely scary; mainly casting him, after years of being out of the movies, was right on many levels. (Ahmed Touffik) was magnificent as the government's powerful man and the helpless father. And (Ma'ale Zayed) is gorgeous as usual, with her Egyptian beauty, but unlike the usual heroine in our cinema, she doesn't end up in the lead's arms; in fact this movie – as its lead – didn't have anytime for a love story ! (El Bedda We El Haggr) or (The Egg & The Stone) philosophizes the Egyptian society, pokes fun at the ignorance in it, and exposes the human necessity of illusion in a commercial comedy which was intelligent, effective and amusing. So who needs more ?!P.S : (El-Baydha Wal Hagar) or (The Egg & The Stone) is an expression in the Egyptian slang stands for quackery.