CAIRO – 2 July 2017: El Asleyeen (The Natives) is an Egyptian drama, mystery and thriller movie released on the eve of Eid al-Fitr, starring Egyptian superstars Meged El Kedwany, Menna Shalaby, Kahled el Sawy, Kenda Alloush, Mohamed Mamdouh, Ahmed Fahmy, and new stars such as Layla Fawzy and Khaled El Zahaby.
Directed and written by Marwan Hamed and Ahmed Mourad, and produced by Red Star and New Century. The Natives discusses the genetic print and how it is used to spy on people through an organization called the originals.
The movie is extremely good, however not everyone will understand it due to the extreme use of art. Moviemakers and the artists will mainly appreciate that movie, but the simple viewer might end up confused and he might not understand the movie. Hence if you are looking for an artistic thriller, this is the movie to watch. If you were not exposed to movies that uses many different camera movements this movie could be difficult to understand. The director uses several techniques to create the movie, which all seemed to successfully serve his purpose. Chief among them are storyline, acting, language, script, settings, color, and camera movement.
Storyline
The movie is about a working man, played by Megad el Kedwany, who loses his job to a younger person. He is beset by anxiety and depression that he never experienced before.
One day he is given a cell phone and finds out that he has been spied on since the day he was born. This spying group is called The Natives. The natives ask him to work for them; he agrees due to his unemployment and need for money. He plans in the end to leave them and start up his own business. The story’s message was that people should never depend on technology for everything, because it might lead to problems in the future. Plus, people should cherish their heritage and try to learn from it to become a better person.
Acting
The casting choice was on point, and the actors really helped deliver the plot. Kedwany portrayed his character as an ordinary man struggling from the world and he was trying to push his life to become better. Shalaby was looking for love and trying to figure it out through the history of ancient Egypt, so she served her purpose. All the actors were on point; none of them were overrated in the acting.
Language & Script
The language was simple and easy. However, when we come to the script we can find in Shalaby’s character a poetic description.
Other technical details
The movie was set mostly outdoors, relying on natural light for much of the shots. The director chose places that showed the history of the county plus the newer architectural style of the buildings along the Nile.
Moreover, the colors in the movie did help build on the storyline. For Instance the color from the beginning and the middle for Kedwany’s character was little dark, which reflects his stress and depression. Shalaby’s scenes were colorful because she was in love, but she also had darker scenes when she discovered her boyfriend was using her. The director used a wide range of colors to describe the timeline and to display the emotions of the character. The director when he wanted to transition from one timeline to another used a change in color. For example when he narrates the story of Baheya, he used black and white to show his age.
The director used many angles and directions to tell the story from his point of view. He used medium shots when one of the characters used to talk. He also used a wider range of camera movements which helped show the artistic side of the storyline. The director used high angle shots to make the subject appear small and vulnerable. He also used a Dutch angle to show that something bad is almost certainly about to happen. Even though people might think that the movie is complicated, on the contrary it is very simple.
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