Egyptian actress Mona Zaki in the movie “Flight 404” (social networking sites)

It has been 11 years since the launch of the “Project” of the Egyptian film “Journey 404”. It began in 2013 when the participants were limited to working on its author, director and heroine, before Mona Zaki surprised them with the news of her pregnancy, which caused a postponement for a period.

The postponement was repeated for several years for various reasons, during which its makers matured and the film was rewritten more than once to suit the changes that occurred in Egyptian society.

With every change, the producers became afraid to participate, sometimes because the plot had a special philosophy, and sometimes because production faltered under the political circumstances during the last decade, until Mohamed Hefzy came and won “Journey 404,” and his audacity to embark on productive adventures for the benefit of Arab cinema is credited.

Between temptation and forgiveness

The film tells the story of Ghada (Mona Zaki), who is burdened with sins and feelings of guilt for what she committed in the past, but she decides to repent and go on a Hajj trip, believing that this is the path she must take to meet God and purify her soul.

Ghada did not take into account the extremely difficult tests that life imposes. She was exposed to a financial crisis, and searching among the ghosts of her old life became the only way to find a solution.

The heroine finds herself faced with several options, most of which depend on committing a sin that she rejects. However, until the last moment, she continues to struggle with her demons and the demons of the people around her in the hope of not committing again what she has repented of.

Egyptian actress Mona Zaki as Ghada in the movie “Flight 404” (social networking sites)

“I am going to go to Hajj, but I am not sure.” This sentence comes from Ghada’s tongue in the second half of the film, confirming the neutrality that the employers were keen to arm themselves with and to present a plot without judgments or executioners, as all the characters commit sins, each in his own way, even the relationships that we may think are Sacred or supposedly altruistic and sacrificial, it appears tainted and booby-trapped.

Although Ghada was the only one who clearly repented and seemed most attached to the hair that separates her from deserving God's wrath, the other characters fought against their own mills, and their feelings of guilt always remained burning.

And here comes the brilliance of the story, as the viewer finds himself forced to see with an eye that does not know cruelty, because he is well aware of how much he makes mistakes sometimes, and we all long for God to grant us a spark of the light of His guidance and an abundance of His pardon and forgiveness.

Victory for drama

The story alone is not the secret to the success of “Journey 404,” as the work had other artistic components that helped distinguish it, the most important of which was the level of acting provided by the heroes, led by Mona Zaki, whose talent has become too great to be ignored or attributed to a stroke of luck, followed by Mohamed Farrag and Mohamed Mamdouh. Despite their lack of sightings.

Khaled Al-Sawy also succeeded in breaking out of the cloak of diarrhea and repetition for which he has recently become famous. As for Sherine Reda, although she did not present a new role, she played it with mature calm. Likewise, Hassan Al-Adl, Arifa Abdel Rasoul, and Samaa Ibrahim were able to attract attention during the scenes in which they appeared.

The dialogue was also a major factor in the success of the film. On the one hand, it was characterized by smoothness and spontaneity, and on the other hand, it was appropriate to the characters and emotions, and most importantly, it seemed real and personal, far from the language of slums or the introduction of foreign vocabulary, which is what cinematic works have come to rely on a lot.

As for Souad Bouchnak’s soundtrack, it relied on strings to express the main character’s emotions and the state of confusion that continued to plague him until the end.

Of course, Hani Khalifa excelled in directing, especially with his known attention to detail, focus on the characters’ expressions, the language of the eyes and body, and resorting to clear visual symbolism. He is credited with not resorting to flashbacks to provide explanations or justifications for the characters’ pasts, as he decided to do so through dramatic narration.

An unexpected success at the box office

Despite the unusualness of the story and the work’s distance from frills and plots that rely on comedy or action and similar stories that know how to attract the audience to the box office, “Flight 404” proved the viewer’s loyalty to serious works that address his thoughts and conscience.

Not only in Egypt, but even in Saudi Arabia, the work that was released at the end of the mid-year holiday season and entered the competition late, has so far managed to earn 18 million Egyptian pounds and 3.5 million Saudi riyals, topping the Saudi box office, according to data from the General Authority for Media Regulation. .

Clean cinema trap

The success of “Journey 404” confirms the possibility of betting on the viewer’s awareness and the fact that he does not chase after canned and innovative ideas, or foreign hybrids, or even ideas that have long been fuel for the trend that has imposed its control on Egyptian cinema since the late 1990s.

The slogan "clean cinema" has often been abused, and strong films whose makers tend to expose the hidden reality of life have become rare, which in turn has limited the acting capabilities of artists and confined them to a fragile area that does not make real history, as evidenced by the fact that the few attempts at rebellion by some are... What resulted in their most important works? If we take Mona Zaki as an example, we will find that her most important roles - but not limited to them - are in the films “Sahar Al-Layali”, “Blood of the Gazelle”, “Tell, Scheherazade”, and finally “Journey 404”.

Promotional poster for the movie "Flight 404" (Al Jazeera)

“Flight 404” was also not spared from the edges of the censorship scissors that delayed the film’s release, as it was scheduled to participate in the official competition of the Red Sea Festival in 2022 under the title “Cairo - Mecca,” before it was banned from being shown due to censorship objections, which required rewriting and conducting Many adjustments were made and many scenes were re-filmed as well, and even the title of the film was changed.

By watching the work, it is possible to feel that the dialogue sentences are falling under the weight of the censorship guillotine as well, in addition to the ending, which seemed confusing because it came with a crude degree of directness that is not commensurate with the rest of the work or the approach embraced by its cinematic makers, which made it the weakest link, whether due to its direct or direct messages. Major breakthroughs suddenly occur and the conscience of more than one character awakens in the last minutes.

“Journey 404” is an inspiring social drama that deserves to be watched perhaps more than once in order to digest it with a wonderful mood and warmth befitting an Egyptian work that is far superior to all films released in recent years, according to some.

The film stars Mona Zaki, Sherine Reda, Mohamed Farrag, Mohamed Mamdouh, Khaled Al-Sawy, Mohamed Alaa, Hassan Al-Adl, and Jihan Al-Shamasherji, with the special return of Nadia Shukri.

It was written by Mohamed Raja, and directed by Hani Khalifa, who returns it to cinema after an absence of 9 years.

Source: Al Jazeera