Cairo: Egyptian Prime Minister Ebrahim Mahlab has ordered suspending the screening of the controversial film Halawet Ruh (The Sweetness of Ruh) after it had been scathingly assailed for alleged immorality, local media reported on Thursday.
The premier instructed that the film showings be halted until it is re-examined by the nation’s censors for a final decision, according to the media.
The move makes Egypt the second Arab country after Qatar to ban the film starring sultry Lebanese singing sensation Haifa Wehbi. Halawet Ruh tells the story of a single mother whose beauty makes her the obsession of her male neighbours including a teen boy.
The film hit Egypt’s theatres earlier this month with showing restricted to those aged over 18.
Egypt’s state-backed National Council for Childhood and Motherhood has accused the film of posing a danger to children.
“The film contains steamy scenes and presents an affair between the heroine and a child who falls in her love while her husband is away,” the council said in a statement earlier this week. “How comes the film is labelled ‘for adults only’ when one of its stars is a teenage boy?”
Producer of the film Mohammad Al Subki, known for controversial films, took on the detractors of Halawet Ruh. “I am proud of it. Those who have attacked the film have first to watch it to judge whether it is immoral or not,” Al Subki said in televised remarks. He said he has not been officially notified of stopping the film screening.
Mahlab’s decision has drawn massive praise on social networking sites.
However, some filmmakers criticised it. One of them is director Amr Salama, who condemned it as dictatorial.
“Is banning films the best mechanism for His Excellency the prime Minister?” Salama tweeted. He can choose not to see it, but he should not confiscate others’ right to watch the film. Dictatorship has several forms.”
Halawet Ruh marks Wehbi’s cinema comeback after a five-year hiatus. Several film critics have described the film as a “twisted” version of Malena, a 2000 Italian film starring Monica Belluci.
