A Polyphonic Adaptation: Noir Sensibilities in Naguib Mahfouz and Salah Abu Seif’s Take on Émile Zola’s "Thérèse Raquin"

Abstract

In 1951, Salah Abu-Seif directed Lak Yūm yā Ẓālim (Your Day Is Coming), scripted by Naguib Mahfouz and adapting Émile Zola’s Thérèse Raquin (1867). In their third collaboration, Abu-Seif and Mahfouz go beyond merely adapting Zola’s novel; they also incorporate film noir techniques, creating what this article terms a polyphonic adaptation that navigates multiple sources. While their partnership is primarily credited with pioneering realism in Egyptian cinema, this article argues that the film’s crime thriller elements warrant a reassessment of this view. Although French novel adaptations were common in pre-1952 Egyptian cinema, their selection of Thérèse Raquin—a novel central to the post-WWII transcultural noir sensibility—suggests that film noir’s connection to Egyptian cinema is both earlier and more profound than generally assumed.