Relationships between fathers and sons are often fraught with tension, even animosity, contrasting with those between men and their daughters. The answers to these are complex and will probably need an entire book to explain. But the fifth edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival had a title that got this sailing smoothly. Titled My Father’s Scent, helmed by Mohamed Siam from Egypt, the work confines itself largely indoors in a gripping, dramatic narrative.
Played over a single night, the movie focuses on an old man, suffering from a terminal illness, who comes back home after a long stint at the hospital. In fact, he had been in a coma, but managed to wake up. He has two sons, and the older sibling, Ali(Abed Anani), blames his younger brother, Farouk(Ahmed Malek), for not taking care of the old man. Worse, Farouk is addicted to drugs, but is really fond of his father. We see this at the very end when his eyes grow moist. But despite this, Farouk’s relationship with his parent is anything but smooth or cordial. For the entire duration of the film – unfolding over a single night – they bicker and quarrel.
The reasons for this are unclear. My Father’s Scent plays out like a Shakespearean tragedy, maybe on the lines of King Lear. But there is violence: look at the way Farouk smashes two bathroom mirrors in rage, unable to cope with the impending doom. With great performances backed by a smartly written script – that does not allow a dull moment – the movie, despite its gloom and sorrow, kept me hooked. The other title which I quite liked, Palestine 36, is set in Gaza, and is very unlike anything else that the helmer, Annemarie Jacir, has done before. If My Father’s Son focuses on a very intimate kind of discord, Palestine 36 presents a wider canvas and talks about the history of the conflict in the region. Though the scale may be large, it does not neglect detailed characterisations.
There is a writer, Khuloud (Yasmine Al Massri), who goes by a male name because people of her gender are not respected, and there is also the British governor (Jeremy Irons) and his secretary (Billy Howle), who are sympathetic to the Palestinian cause. As one writer says: “Two themes emerge as central to the narrative: the quiet yet ruthless economic war over land, with bureaucratic processes turning ownership into a tool of dispossession, and the way citizens come to realise that their country is being stolen and start to organise a resistance”.
(THE WRITER IS A MOVIE CRITIC AND AUTHOR)