Shocking historical mistakes and an unacceptable artistic level were the initial criticisms made by the public and critics of the first episodes of the series "Sirat Al-Bata" which is shown in Ramadan.
The series received high expectations that attracted the attention of a large number of viewers due to the magnitude of the work, and its plot that combines drama and history.
The series reviews two eras, the first at the time of the French campaign and the desperate defense of Egyptians against the occupation, and the second in 2010, where the hero tries to trace the biography of "Sultan Hamed", one of the brave and destitute men in the face of tyranny.
The series stars Ahmed Fahmy, Reem Mustafa, Salah Abdullah and Mahmoud Kabil, in addition to Hussein Fahmy, Hanan Mutawa, Ahmed Salah Al-Saadani, Ahmed Abdel Aziz, Shams Al-Kuwaitia, Nidal Najm, Khaled Al-Sawy, Menna Fadali, Naglaa Badr, Khaled Anwar and others.
Obvious technical errors
The first mistake made by the makers of the work was discovered as soon as the promotional poster for the series was launched before the holy month, as the poster was divided into two halves, one for contemporary time, and the second for the French campaign. On the last half, the minaret of the Muhammad Ali Mosque appeared in the background, a historical error, since the campaign was between 1798 and 1801, while the Muhammad Ali Mosque was built between 1830 and 1848.
With the screening of the series, other mistakes appeared, the most obvious of which was the choice of actor Ayman Al-Shiwi to play the role of Napoleon Bonaparte. Although Napoleon is only 1.58 meters tall, the Shiwi is close to two meters, in addition to the clear age difference between the two, as Bonaparte began his campaign against Egypt at the age of 29.
Historical lapses or dramatically insignificant lapses?
Journalist and writer Ahmed Morsi revealed – through his personal page on Facebook – some of the historical errors that he monitored in the second episode of the series, and varied between not keeping pace with clothes for the era of the French campaign of handkerchiefs (Awya are decorations of silk or linen engraved by women on their clothes) and patterned shirts not worn by Egyptians before the thirties of the last century, which was cited by pictures of Egyptian clothes from the book "Description of Egypt".
Morsi also criticized the appearance of Ahmed al-Saadani wearing cotton clothes under his robes, stressing that Egypt did not know cotton until after its cultivation during the reign of Muhammad Ali, the twenties of the 19th century.
Another mistake is the appearance of Ahmed Abdel Aziz on the back of his "karta", a wooden carriage pulled by a horse, because the first to introduce that cart is Napoleon, followed by Muhammad Ali, and therefore it was not a common thing for the general public at that time, in addition to the appearance of a long wooden table that resembles a dining table, which was also not present at that historical stage.
The opinion and the other opinion
For his part, the researcher in history and writer of historical reports, Wassim Al-Afifi, refuted these errors and responded to them through his Facebook account, first clothes, where he pointed out that there is nothing to deny that the Egyptians wore a handkerchief before the twentieth century, although this was not mentioned in the book "Description of Egypt" or even paintings, but in the history of Al-Jabarti, he described the balloon that the French wanted to launch into the air as similar to the "Oyeh", which means that it was known before the French campaign.
With regard to cotton, Al-Afifi stressed that the Egyptians knew cotton textiles in the past, but they wore them in the form of a "shawl" or "vest", which developed in the era of Muhammad Ali, and therefore the information that Egyptians did not know cotton in itself is wrong, but at the same time they did not wear it in the way that appeared in the series.
Regarding the appearance of the kart and the trip, he also stressed that they did not exist in the era of the campaign, but he sees them as a slip that does not affect the drama, and since the series is not a documentary or documentary, but rather a dramatic work with a historical part, the audience must accept the existence of a space for imagination without being satisfied with the facts.
Other cons
At the artistic level, many accused the makers of the series of easiness, starting with the Egyptian dialect spoken by everyone in the work, without taking into account the difference of times between the past and the present, even the French appeared while speaking colloquial Egyptian, and one of them even mocked and kept repeating "Madad, Sultan Hamed Madad".
At the level of directing, the work appeared at a modest level and from an old art school, closer to Khaled Youssef's films more than 15 years ago, as well as the time shifts in the first episode were fast and weak at the level of editing and camera transfers.
As for the acting performance, with regard to the part of the French campaign, the work included a group of distinguished stars, and with the exception of Khaled Al-Sawi, the majority tried to present their roles professionally, as the best of them was Ahmed Salah Al-Saadani, as well as Khaled Youssef's directorial prowess appeared in some cadres.
But the contemporary part of the story was disappointing, whether in terms of acting or plot and dramatic narration, and perhaps the weakest choices of the actors in the series so far is Ahmed Fahmy for the starring role, especially since he could not get out of the comedy robes and worked on presenting the character with much naivety and disregard sometimes.
Tatar charm
The positive point of the work remains the distinctive Tatar from the lyrics of Mustafa Ibrahim and the singing of Mohamed Mounir, a song that played on the chord of patriotism and a long history of resistance, but despite the beauty of the words and the sensitivity of Mounir's voice, the melody and sound engineering were louder than his voice, which made the audience unable to interpret some of the words.