Chucked out of Job? Read this!

I volunteered at the 16th Chennai International Film Festival—for the perks of food allowance and films. I thought I'll write about a film or two in my upcoming posts that I watched during my stint at the Casino theatre. I don't mean to strongly recommend these films, but these were the ones I chose to watch at my assigned venue as I wasn't supposed to leave elsewhere. The first one in this series is an Egyptian film – Al Asleyeen.

Samir, a middle-aged man, is hired by a secret society after being chucked out of the bank he worked with. The secret society spies on the citizens of Egypt with the mission to protect the nation and conserve its ideals. The Society can track every movement of the people. Samir himself has been spied upon since birth.

Samir has a lazy wife who spends lavishly, a son and a daughter. He lives a routine life serving as the family's sole breadwinner. The bank he works with replaces him with a younger candidate. His bank balance goes zero. That's when a secret society by the name of Al Asleyeen (The Originals/The Natives) steps in to offer him a job. It's an offer Samir can't refuse, because they've recorded his entire life—including his private moments.

He's given the task of spying on Thoria—a woman academician—through the course of which he develops a one-sided love. With access to all people, he soon learns the secret lives of his family members that lead to separation. He's now free from burdens, so he dares to quit the job and build a tourist village on his ancestral land. The film ends with Samir inviting Thoria to his village.

During his stint at the Al Asleyeen, Samir learned the past glory of his homeland Egypt from the lectures of Thoria, that inspired him to build the tourist village. He learned how creative Egyptians had once been, in contrast with the dull life of present day Egyptians—including that of his own. The secret society is a metaphor of the real society. You live in a particular fashion because the society is watching you. Get rid of this fear and your creative juices will start to flow.