Hassan wa Morcus

When the lives of Mahmoud, a Muslim Sheikh (Omar Sharif) and Boulos, a Christian Priest (Adel Imam) are threatened by religious extremists on both sides, the Egyptian government inducts ... See full summary »

Director:

Rami Imam

Writer:

Youssef Maaty (main writer)

Stars:

Adel Imam, Omar Sharif, Lebleba

 

Storyline

When the lives of Mahmoud, a Muslim Sheikh (Omar Sharif) and Boulos, a Christian Priest (Adel Imam) are threatened by religious extremists on both sides, the Egyptian government inducts them into a witness protection program that requires them to disguise themselves as the Christian Marcus and a Muslim Sheikh, Hassan el-Attar, respectively.When, unwittingly, they move into the same building, a friendship blossoms that must, along with a romance between the protagonists' children, withstand the difficulties of prejudice and social persecution.

User Reviews

 

A false equivalence

14 August 2009 | by karlpov (Columbia MD) – See all my reviews

The story has its heart in the right place. This is largely a comedy in which two men, a Coptic Christian in hiding and pretending to be a Muslim, and a Muslim in hiding pretending to be a Coptic Christian, become close friends, neither knowing of the other's deception. What will be their reaction when they find that they in fact do not belong to the same religion? The two deceivers are presented as being in equivalent situations, which aids in presenting a tidy can't-we-all-be-friends message but is fundamentally dishonest: the Copts are at the mercy of the majority Muslim population and are constantly persecuted by them. The movie can be enjoyed if you ignore this reality.