EGYPT'S young film directors, who have debuted in the past three seasons, have carved a niche for themselves in filmmaking industry dominated for decades by the veterans. Moreover, film critics suggest that the veterans are feeling nervous because ‘their former apprentices are pulling the carpet from under their feet'. The success of these young directors can be attributed to what is described as their impressive choice of their themes, as well as their clever direction techniques and control of cameramenand actors. One of these directors has been applauded for his film Walad wa Bint (A Boy and a Girl), a contemporary version of the immortal Romeo and Juliet love story. The film is being played at local theatres, generating good reviews. Walad wa Bent, the first experiment by director Karim el-Adl, has also been applauded for its carefully selected, unknown cast, including Mariam Hassan, Ahmed Daoud and Aya Mahmoud Hemida. Regular faces, such as Sawsan Badr, Sami el- Adl and Salwa Mohamed Ali, have been cast in narrow supporting roles. The film, written by scriptwriter Ola Ezz Eddin Hamouda, begins when Sameh (Ahmed Daoud), a businessman in his forties, bumps into his former lover, Shahd (Mariam Hassan). They are so surprised that they part without exchanging a word or a nod. With the aid of flashbacks, the businessman vividly recalls their unconsummated love story, which starts when they are children and continues when they grow up. Sameh's lifelong dream of marrying his sweetheart collapses when she marries someone else. Haunted by the memory of her late father's firm control of her mother, Shahd suspects that it will be the same for her. She is torn between the sad memory of her mother (who was no more than an asset possessed by her husband) and her desperate love for Sameh. Her mother's nightmare compels Shahd to abandon her lover and marry someone else. The spurned lover, devastated emotionally and unable to recover from the shock, entertains signs of misogyny. He is tormented by the thought that his girl has willingly thrown herself in the arms of someone else. Shahd, in the meantime, decides to be a rebel wife, so she won't be another victim of male dominance like her mother. This rebellion leads Shahd to get a divorce when her daughter celebrates her 10th birthday. In the meantime, Sameh devotes himself to business, until he fulfils his dream of becoming a big name in society. Although the film unfolds smoothly, many of the details are unnecessary. The scriptwriter has established herself as a brilliant creator of characters. Her soul-searching analysis of the psyche of the two lovers is quite brilliant. Petty mistakes in the direction and camera movements do not by any means detract from Walad wa Bent: its theme is a universal one with significant emotional dimensions.
