Hinter Haremsmauern

Considering the extensive critical attention Howard Hawks has received over the years, it's rather surprising that this film, the sixth he directed, is so little known. Admittedly, 'Fazil' is not at all typical of Hawks' work, and lacks most of his recognizable directorial motifs, and on top of that features stars whose names only buffs will recognize. Even so, it's a beautifully filmed, sumptuously mounted late silent drama worth seeing for its production values alone. For viewers of our era, the most striking aspect of the film is that its story is based on a culture clash of West vs. East, specifically, the difficulties that arise when a European (presumably secular) woman who prides herself on being modern and "free," marries an Arab man who follows the old ways, and is a devout Muslim. Even in recent years, Hollywood filmmaker seldom venture into this particular danger zone, and while to our eyes 'Fazil' appears quite dated and very much a product of its time, it's nonetheless surprisingly even-handed in presenting both sides of the case in a painful divide which, needless to say, is still with us.

Two aspects mark 'Fazil' as distinctly different from most of the director's later work: first, there is minimal action because the emphasis is placed squarely on the central romance, and second, the ending is tragic. Once our lovers meet in Venice we are given many long, languid close-ups of Fazil (Charles Farrell) exchanging looks of adoration with Fabienne (Greta Nissen). They fall in love at a dance - - a hint of tragic foreshadowing for Shakespeare devotees -- and then share a gondola ride while the gondolier sings the film's theme, "Nights of Splendor," courtesy of the film's Movietone soundtrack. But almost as soon as they are married the culture clash begins, and we never get a sense that the two will manage to overcome their differences, as they have entirely opposite notions of what marriage is supposed to be. Fazil believes that love is possession, i.e. that a husband commands his wife, and he has no intention of adapting to Western customs, while Fabienne, who is French, considers herself a liberated woman and chafes under Fazil's possessiveness. Neither will compromise. Soon it's clear that tragedy lies ahead, and it's just a question of what exactly is going to go wrong, and when.

While it was daring for Hollywood movie-makers to tackle this subject matter in 1928, the prospect of casting an actual Arab actor in the title role was highly unlikely, so handsome young Charles Farrell was cast in the lead. They gave him a pencil-line mustache and darkened his skin slightly, and this was apparently considered sufficient. Farrell gives the role his best shot, although he's obviously no more Arab than Barry Fitzgerald. His performance is generally restrained and seems to improve as the film goes on, that is, after an early scene when he indulges in unfortunate eye-popping histrionics when he first sees his leading lady. The beautiful Greta Nissen, who was Norwegian, might not have gotten this role in a talkie, but she's perfectly well cast here, and gives a sensitive, nuanced performance. Both Fabienne and Fazil have their faults but neither is presented as the villain of the piece, which is refreshing but also deepens our sadness and frustration as their relationship falls apart.

This film isn't for all tastes, and Howard Hawks fans familiar with his later work may wonder if it was truly directed by the same guy who made The Big Sleep and Rio Bravo, but for viewers willing to adjust to a more romantic (even "soapy") sensibility this is a movie well worth seeing, especially for those interested in the culture clash issues at the heart of the story, and in the way Hollywood has portrayed the Arab world. Film buffs interested in the late silent era will most definitely want to give this one a look.

FAZIL is a slow paced film about an Arab prince falling in love with a French blonde bombshell. The culture difference between modern Paris and the old culture of the primitive hot desert makes marriage life difficult for the characters played by Charles Farrell and Norwegian blonde Greta Nissen. FAZIL was distributed as the sound era was breaking its silence and the film seems a bit old fashion for its time. But Fazil has some beautiful close ups of its stars and the music throughout is moody. Worth seeing for Howard Hawks direction and a glimpse of Nissens beauty. Apparently Hawks had problems convincing Farrell and Nissen to make their love scenes more steamy. So he toke them both aside and told them separately to get busy. The advice paid off. Next project for Greta Nissen was as leading lady in Howard Hughs HELLS ANGELS which first was filmed as a silent. He decided to re-shoot the dialog with sound but Nissens heavy Norwegian accent did not fit the role as an English Lady. She was replaced by newcomer Jean Harlow. FAZIL was thought lost, but has surfaced and become in demand at various film festivals.

There's nothing particularly wrong with this romantic drama from the earliest days of the sound era (though only with a dedicated sound track and some sound effects, this is no talkie), but there's also nothing particularly right with it either. It's a rather bland and shallow clash of cultures that never convincingly establishes its characters or central relationship enough in order to actually pull any emotional reaction from the audience. It's technically adept but kind of an empty, forgettable bit of filmmaking.

The Arabian prince Fazil, who shares the exact same starting point as Michael in Paid to Love interestingly enough, must go to Venice for diplomatic purposes. Uninterested in women, finding them to have little utility, he instantly falls in love with Fabienne, a Parisian woman in Venice and staying across the canal from the apartment he's taken up residence in. They meet at a ball where he steals her away and they fall in love in a gondola. The movie then skips ahead weeks to where they are married in Paris.

Now, the version I saw was 71 minutes long, but the IMDb lists the movie's length at an hour and twenty-eight minutes. I'm not sure where the seventeen minutes of footage went, but I have a feeling that a bulk of it might have come from here. The two go from newly met lovers to married instantly without ever getting a solid feel for either the characters themselves or the relationship that seems to make them so happy in this moment of bliss. That conflict is immediately introduced causing drama in a relationship that we don't really have a grounding in undermines the overall effect.

Fabienne had a fiancé of sorts in John Clavering who has taken the news that his intended ran off with a foreign prince and married him rather well. He's friendly still with only a very brief scene showing him being cordial and no more to Fabienne where she invites him to dinner. This invitation enrages Fazil who demands that Fabienne call him right back and cancel the invitation, which she flauntingly does not do in front of him. This causes a huge rift between the two and Fazil goes back to Arabia alone, determined to forget his Western wife.

Now, considering what comes next, I find this turn of events to be a mistake. This ends up essentially happening twice where Fabienne discovers two separate times that Fazil is a controlling and domineering husband who expects his wife to be so completely subservient of his interests that any exertion of her own freedom is anathema to him. That she would pine for him is one thing. That she would then go to Arabia in pursuit of her husband who takes her back before immediately oppressing her again ends up feeling off. It feels like the first break shouldn't have happened and instead what we should have seen was the first, subtler manifestations of the culture shock awaiting Fabienne.

Well, it all comes to a head when Fabienne, trapped in Fazil's palace for weeks even after having convinced him to send away the entirety of his harem, discovers from the sole remaining girl left on as her servant that Fazil has gone off to wed another woman. Then we get the second big moment of culture shock from Fabienne as she discovers, yet again, that Fazil is a controlling monster who thinks of her as less of a person than any man in the West would consider her. That she has to go through this twice feels off.

The movie ends with an escape attempt from Fabienne's Western friends, a perfectly fine little slice of tension and action, where Fabienne gets shot and Fazil holds her, tears in his eyes, as his wife dies in his arms with him having poisoned himself so that they can be together forever in the afterlife. None of this is really bad, mind you, it's just thin. For example, the idea that Fazil and Fabienne are great lovers is carried only by their interactions near the beginning of the film when they instantly fell into each other's arms. With only a couple of small moments afterwards, the rest of the film is them being acrimonious to each other, so the weight of the film is towards them actually actively disliking each other not being great lovers. Is it unbelievable? No. Is it unconvincing? Yes.

Is it also pretty much completely forgettable? Yeah. I imagine that this will be the one film that I'll forget the first from Hawks' early body of work.