Nass Men Warak - People Made of Paper [1972]

The Plot:
Maria sings with her band and they perform different musical sketches. But that bothers a parliamentary candidate called Dhaher who is preparing a speech for the next day. So he sends Dib, who is a bully working for Dhaher, to shut them up. Dib meets with Maria, the band leader and warns her that if they don't leave, they will be arrested. The decide to stay. After they finish the night's numbers, the band's manager tells Antar to stay up all night and guard the clothes and the set because he fears from the earlier threat made by Dib.
The next day, Dib meets with Maria and proposes that the band sings for Dhaher but she refuses. It's then that Dib offers , the one who plays Alharami/the thief in the sketches, to buy the costumes and he agrees. Alharami fools Antar to leave his guard and then when he tries to steal the costumes, Nassoum stops him, but lets him go.
Maria meets with an old neighbor Chaccour who used to love her. Now he is working in that city the band is performing in. He promises to bring her the earrings he bought her years ago.
The next day and while the band is performing, Dib imposes a singer called Abou Assad to do a number which . When Dib tries to buy Almoudir's vote, Almoudir decides to run himself for the seat in the parliamentary. He believes he's going to win because his band will vote for him as well as his fans. In an attempt to attract Armenian voters, he asks Nassoum to sing a folkloric Armenian song which she (Huda) does brilliantly. It's the last day the band will stay at that city. Chaccour returns to meet Maria and asks her to marry him but she can't and they separate. Dib comes and tells the band to leave at that moment. But they still have one last song to perform. Dib refuses to let them finish it as the speech is going to be said by Dhaher any moment. Maria offers Dib to join their troupe. He does, they perform the last song and leave the city.

Quick notes:
This is a strange play. Fairuz, aside from the songs, had a small role. Even her songs don't fit with the plot. Well they do in a way, as she plays as a performer in a troupe and these songs are what she, well, performs. They don't however tell of the story. The other strange thing is that I feel I listened to many parts of the play somewhere else, not just tunes but down to some of the lines in the dialogue. The scene where Dib asks Maria to sing for Dhaher is actually based on a real incident. There are also many refers to earlier plays, Antara, a character in old folkolric tales, Gibran and Mozart. In this play, the Rahbani Brothers want to honor theater for what it is, a haven for freedom of expression, a place where people travel to because of love they have for the performers.

The Credits:
Fairuz ... Maria
Nasri Shamesiddin ... Almoudir
Hoda ... Nassoum
William Haswani ... Dib
Joesph Nassif ... Abou Assad
Gorgette Sayegh ... Al Mouharrija
Hanna Maalouf ... Chaccour
Siham Shammas ... Nefnafe
Abou Salim ... Antar
Elie Chouieri ... Alharami
Written by the Rahbani Brothers except:
CD1 Tracks 5 and 6 Music by Elias Rahbani
CD1 Track 9 Lyrics by Saiid Akl
CD1 Track 10 Original Music by Mozart - Arranged by Rahbani Bros.
CD1 Track 16 Lyrics based on the Arabic translation of The Prophet by Gibran
CD2 Track 7 Traditional Music - Arranged by Rahbani Bros.
CD2 Track 10 Traditional Music - Arranged by Rahbani Bros.

Disk 1: [68'23"]

01. Wousslet Fer'et Maria - The Group 2'46"
02. Rej'et Layali Zaman - Fairuz 7'07"
03. Dabket Ghayyarou - Fairuz and the Group 2'51"
04. Dialogue Dib Wa Maria - Fairuz and William Heswani 3'06"
05. Ouli Ouli Ya Nassoum - Huda and the Group 1'32"
06. Ze'let Halime - Nasri Shameseddine and the Group 2'57"
07. Sketch A'Chawich Wal Mouharrija - William Haswani and Georgette Sayegh 2'34"
08. Sketch Nassoum Wa Antar - Huda and Abou Salim 2'59"
09. Da'ayt - Fairuz 4'51"
10. Ya Ana Ya Ana - Fairuz 2'35"
11. Ya Binti Ya Nefnafe Wel Harami - Joesph Nassif, Elie Choeiri and Siham Shammas 9'43"
12. Sketch Nefnafe Wal Harammi - Huda and Abou Salim 4'28"
13. Chou'b Yeb'a Mnel Rawaye - Fairuz 3'08"
14. Maria Wa Chaccour - Fairuz and Hanna Maalouf 2'52"
15. Dabke: Al Mejwez - The Group 2'45"
16. Almahabba - Fairuz and the Group 12'09"

Disk 2: [53'12"]

01. Ya Markab'al Rih - Fairuz 7'
02. Helya ya Wasseh - Fairuz and the Group 4'46"
03. Sketch Almouharrija Wa Dib Wal Chawich Wa Abou Assad - Sayegh, Haswani and Nassif 1'18"
04. Nehna Ya Chabab - Joesph Nassif 3'31"
05. Sketch Dib Wal Moudir - Haswani and Shameseddine 3'34"
06. Eddouli Ya Jama'a - Nasri Shameseddine and the Group 1'50"
07. Lebanese Folk Songs - Nasri Shameseddine 5'06"
08. Armenian Folk Song - Huda 3'19"
09. Telfi Khyam 'ellahon/Da'ou'l Mahabij - Fairuz 3'34"
10. Al'lla La/ Ya Weyl - Fairuz 3'27"
11. Dialogue Maria Wa Chaccour - Fairuz and Hanna Maalouf 1'54"
12. Dialogue Maria Wa Dib - Fairuz and William Haswani 4'03"
13. Ass'ess Warak - Elie Choueiri and Huda 2'38"
14. Kanet Ala Hak El Ariche - Fairuz and Nasri Shameseddine 5'40"
15. Wa Lamma'l Amar Ghab/Iza'l Ard - Fairuz and the Group 1'32"

Total time 131'35"

Uploder infos:

[MP3:320Kbps]
Part 1: [76.3M]
Part 2: [80.3M]
Part 3: [85.7M]
Part 4: [36.2M]


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