Close Up: Elements of artistic creation in “Wanoos’s” final scene

CAIRO – 12 November 2017: It is believed that Egyptian drama is the strongest and richest type of drama in the Middle East. Egypt Today presents its close up for Egyptian cinema and drama master scenes.

“Wanoos” is an Egyptian series that have been screened during Ramadan 2016. The story of “Wanoos” is based on the mythical German story of “Faust” who sold his soul to “Lucifer.”

The drama series is written by Abdel Rahim Kamal, directed by Shady El Fakharany and stars Yehia El Fakharany, Nabil El Halfawy, Hala Sedki, Hanan Motawie, and Mohamed Shahin.

The plot has been previously depicted in previous works of art including “Doctor Faustus” play by the legendary English dramatist Christopher Marlow and “Faust Al Gaded” [The New Faust] by the great Arabic author and Ahmad Ali Bakathir.



The monologue of El Fakharany’s series summarizes the Man-Devil conflict in slight words; for instance, Wanoos addresses God saying: “You forgave him! After what he did, I only did one sin, one sin only, while he made many, I won’t leave his children, I will follow them, every man and every woman.”

The abovementioned scene significantly portrays the reaction of Wanoos who is “Lucifer” after the death of Yaccut “Faustus” who symbolizes man.

Expressing his anger, Wanoos was displayed in a special setting led by certain black and gray lightings and colors. Moreover dark colors have been used before in various forms of art to depict certain moods including Gothic art and others.
El Fakharany’s vocal pitches and performance greatly expresses the devil’s jealousy, and rage.

Mythically, the image of Lucifer is portrayed in Egyptian cinema as a handsome gentleman. This figure is portrayed by renowned golden age actor Youssef Wahby who played the role of the devil in the movie “Safeer Gahnam” [Hell’s Ambassador].

Finally, the musical background of the scene was highly significant; it carries epic orchestral sounds bringing to mind images of ancient Roman battles.