Egyptian members of parliament are demanding cuts in a popular new film, claiming it defames their country with its gritty portrayal of corrupt politicians, police brutality, terrorism and homosexuality.
The Yacoubian Building -- the most expensive film ever produced in Egypt -- has been breaking box office records since its release a fortnight ago, although some viewers have walked out and others say they had to cover their eyes.
Following complaints from 112 MPs, the Egyptian parliament has set up a committee to review the film and decide what to cut.
"This film is spreading obscenity and debauchery, which is totally against Egyptian moral values," independent MP Mustafa Bakri told the Associated Press. "As a citizen I felt hurt when I watched it."
best-selling novel
The film, which features some of Egypt's biggest stars, is based on a novel by Cairo dentist Alaa al-Aswani which became the Arab world's best-seller and has been sold openly in Egypt for four years.
In soap opera style, the book gives a warts-and-all portrait of modern Egypt told through the lives of the inhabitants of a Cairo apartment block.
There is a womanizing aristocrat, a corrupt nouveau riche politician, a young woman who is sexually harassed at work and a highly educated youth who becomes a terrorist after being turned down for a job in the police because he comes from a poor family.
The most controversial of all, though, is Hatim Rasheed, a cultured newspaper editor with a taste for Nubian men. He falls in love with a young married policeman, who feels guilty about the relationship and eventually murders him.
Aswani's book caused additional frissons by the way it blurs fiction with reality. The eponymous Yacoubian Building really exists (its owners refused to let it be used for filming), and several characters -- including the corrupt politician and the gay editor -- bear a striking resemblance to prominent Egyptians.
Aswani, who was not invited to the gala opening of the film version, said he regretted parliament's action.
"Why aren't Italy, France or the United States defamed by movies dealing with homosexuality? Novels and movies are not made to promote tourism but to deal with real issues of life," he told AP.
The film's director, Marwan Hamed, said in an interview with the BBC World Service: "It was a thin line between trying to be daring and pushing away the audience. The idea of film-making is to make a film that makes people think -- so the film is doing its purpose, and I'm very happy about that.
taboos
"We need to talk about the taboos, and we need to cancel the word `taboos' from our lives -- we need to talk about everything to become better. If we don't, if we hide everything in denial, how are we going to become better?" he said.
Homosexuality has previously figured in novels by Naguib Mahfouz, the Egyptian Nobel laureate, and in several films by Egypt's greatest director, Youssef Chahine.
In Yousri Nasrallah's 1993 film, Mercedes, the central character had a gay brother with a lover, as well as a drug-addicted lesbian aunt.
With the growth of religiosity in recent years, though, attitudes have been hardening. Same sex acts are not illegal in Egypt but laws against "debauchery" and "immoral advertising" are used to bring charges.
In the popular press, homosexuality is often portrayed as a Western "disease" that can be caught from foreigners.
In 2001 more than 50 men described as satanists were put on trial following a police raid on the Queen Boat, a floating nightclub popular with gay men. They were said to have imported their "perverse ideas" from Europe.
In other cases documented by Human Rights Watch, undercover police have used the Internet to entrap gay men.
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