Real events .. The era of blood places Basil Al-Khayat in a moral dilemma

Jasmine Adel

The Syrian series "The Blood Age" succeeded in attracting attention since the first episodes of its presentation, amid a great interaction of the pioneers of social media platforms, with high viewing rates being achieved, especially as it consists of only ten episodes.

The star role is starring Basil Khayat, the scenario and dialogue of the Syrian writer Iyad Abu Al Shamat, and the production of "Eagle Films". Rami Hanna was supposed to direct him to become the second collaboration for this quadruple crew after the success they achieved together in the "Tango" series, which was well received by the audience and critics.

However, Rami Hanna withdrew shortly before filming because he sensed the lack of time, as he was linked to another series that would compete with him in the Ramadan 2020 race, so that the production company was chosen by the Egyptian director Karim El Shenawi, who drew attention to him in the series "Cain" last Ramadan.

A group of Syrian and Lebanese stars participated in the championship, headed by Nada Abu Farhat, Rodney Haddad and Nadine Tahseen Beck Alan Saadeh.

family comes first

The series revolves around a teaser in a police teaser about Salim Fayad, the owner of a drug distribution company, who suffers from financial hardship, and is the head of a family who loves his family and lives a routine life, but his life is turned upside down during a business trip, when he finds himself involved in an accident that causes his victim The daughter of a gangster is known for his cruelty, who in turn decides to kill him in revenge for his daughter.

But the father retracts, stipulating that the hero must work for him as a hired killer if he and his family members want to survive, otherwise he will all be sentenced to death, which puts the hero in a human and moral dilemma. Does he accept becoming a criminal to protect the people closest to his heart, or does he listen to the sound of his loud conscience?

Quoted series

It is noteworthy that the "Blood Age" series belongs to what is known as "Forum series", which is a new type of drama that is completely quoted from a foreign drama with the permission of the original production company, and the producers usually resort to it as a kind of investment of the success of the original work and ensuring a mass base in advance.

The writer, Iyad Abu Al Shamat, stated that the series is taken from the Serbian series (Besa), which was presented in 2018 and achieved great public success, as it is based on a true story.

For this reason, the work does not exceed ten episodes, each of which is approximately one hour long, similar to the original work, in contrast to the prevailing pattern of Arab series with thirty episodes, which Abu Shamat described as perhaps best suited for the series that are shown during broadcasting platforms, especially as they usually consist of several seasons.

Pros and Cons

Basil Khayyat has always been known in the Arab world for choosing complex psychopathic roles and creativity in them, which has made the public excited in advance for the works that it intends to present. But here we see him in a simple figure forced to undergo some transformations as a result of what is imposed by events. Perhaps, therefore, the performance of Khayyat in the first episodes was normal without a slight imprint, as if it were just a spectrum that was not attached to memory.

And as soon as he turns to a criminal, his performance changes, but it is a sudden change. He does not become dulled, but rather the opposite. With every crime he commits, he loses part of his soul and becomes more fragile. The motivation that justifies it did.

Although Khayat's performance, episode after episode, was more persuasive and in line with the character, from the very first moment it is considered the cornerstone of the work, especially with its ability to raise the level of performance of any actor who shares the scene, while the scenes without it were normal or mostly boring.

This was the case of almost all the characters except Fadi Abi Samra, Ali Mneimneh and Roddni Haddad, which was shocking among the stars who had previously proven themselves by other works such as Nada Abu Farhat, Leah Mbardi and Wissam Fares.

But the performance of many improved in the last four episodes, when the plot no longer centered around the hero alone, but rather extended to other dramatic strands interestingly complicated.

This disparity in the level of episodes, performance, and the presence of characters was of little importance, and even the conflict between the police and the gangsters that appeared superficial and intrusive and with an area larger than its dramatic size, caused the series to receive varying reactions between praise and criticism.

However, with the open end that confirmed that the conflict is not over and that the next is worse, and with the improvement of the level of the last episodes, the followers decided to wait for the unexpected next season, as many of the main characters died, which promises that the characters who were not important this season have Have a pivotal role in the future.

And with mentioning the positives, we cannot go beyond the soundtrack of Khaled Al-Kammar, which was very expressive and raised the level of work in several scenes that succeeded in being her heroine with distinction.

The director should also be praised for Karim El-Shennawi who, despite his young age, has proven his talent with regard to his selection of cadres and shooting angles and how to use lighting as an addition and confirmation of the situation.

It is mentioned that Basil Khayat will participate in the upcoming Ramadan marathon in the series "The Sculptor", a Lebanese teaser written by Buthaina Awad and directed by Majdi Al-Sumairi. As for the tournament, Amal Bouchoucha, Nada Abu Farhat and Fadi Ibrahim will participate.