''Sadat'' is a 1983 American two-part, four-hour

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

biographical film A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudra ...

based on the life and death of the late 3rd

President of Egypt The president of Egypt is the executive head of state of Egypt and the de facto appointer of the official head of government under the Egyptian Constitution of 2014. Under the various iterations of the Constitution of Egypt following the Egyp ...

Anwar Sadat Muhammad Anwar el-Sadat, (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers on 6 ...

, starring

Louis Gossett Jr. Louis Cameron Gossett Jr. (born May 27, 1936) is an American actor. Born in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City, He had his stage debut at the age of 17, in a school production of '' You Can't Take It with You.'' Shortly after he successfully ...

as Sadat and Madolyn Smith as Sadat's wife,

Jehan Jehan is a male given name. It is the old orthography of Jean in Old French, and is rarely given anymore. It is also a variant of the Persian name Jahan in some South Asian languages. People with the given name Jehan * Jehan Adam (15th century) ...

. It was distributed by

Columbia Pictures Television Columbia Pictures Television, Inc. (abbreviated as CPT) was launched on May 6, 1974, by Columbia Pictures as an American television production and distribution studio. It is the second name of the Columbia Pictures television division Screen Gem ...

through

Operation Prime Time Operation Prime Time (OPT) was a consortium of United States, American independent station (North America), independent television stations to develop prime time programming for independent stations. OPT and its spin-off syndication company, Tel ...

. Gossett's performance earned him a nomination for an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

and a

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

Plot

The film begins by depicting Sadat's involvement with violent anti-British insurgents. Eventually he becomes a follower of

Gamal Abdel Nasser Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein, . (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian politician who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 and introduced far-re ...

(

John Rhys-Davies John Rhys-Davies (born 5 May 1944) is a Welsh actor best known for portraying Sallah in the ''Indiana Jones'' franchise and Gimli in ''The Lord of the Rings'' trilogy. His other roles include Michael Malone in the 1993 series ''The Untoucha ...

) as the latter begins his ascent to political supremacy in Egypt. As Egypt becomes more of a regional power led by Nasser, Sadat suffers the strain of being Nasser's yes man, while clashing with him. Nasser enjoys widespread popularity once he nationalizes the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...

, but suffers a fatal downfall in the wake of Egypt's crushing defeat in the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states (primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, S ...

. Eventually succeeding Nasser, Sadat finds himself beholden to the

Soviets Soviet people ( rus, сове́тский наро́д, r=sovyétsky naród), or citizens of the USSR ( rus, гра́ждане СССР, grázhdanye SSSR), was an umbrella demonym for the population of the Soviet Union. Nationality policy in th ...

for military assistance. The Soviets know the Egyptians are determined to go to war with

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

and reclaim the

Sinai Sinai commonly refers to: * Sinai Peninsula, Egypt * Mount Sinai, a mountain in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt * Biblical Mount Sinai, the site in the Bible where Moses received the Law of God Sinai may also refer to: * Sinai, South Dakota, a place ...

, but doubt that Egypt's military can cross the Suez without their help. Determined to make the Egyptians masters of their own nation, Sadat forgoes Soviet assistance (and their influence). In October 1973, Egypt and Syria launch a two-front attack on Israel. Egypt's planning proves immensely successful at the outset, building on a well-executed amphibious crossing of the Suez. Egyptian air defense units hold off Israel's Air Force, depriving soldiers on the ground of air support. The assault founders when an Israeli tank unit led by

Ariel Sharon Ariel Sharon (; ; ; also known by his diminutive Arik, , born Ariel Scheinermann, ; 26 February 1928 – 11 January 2014) was an Israeli general and politician who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Israel from March 2001 until April 2006. S ...

holds its own without air support. Sadat also suffers the loss of a relative shot down during the war. Ultimately, Sadat realizes the futility of war, and seeks a peaceful dialog with Israel, leading up to his meetings with

Menachem Begin Menachem Begin ( ''Menaḥem Begin'' (); pl, Menachem Begin (Polish documents, 1931–1937); ''Menakhem Volfovich Begin''; 16 August 1913 – 9 March 1992) was an Israeli politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of Israel. B ...

(

Barry Morse Herbert Morse (10 June 19182 February 2008), known professionally as Barry Morse, was a British-Canadian actor of stage, screen, and radio, best known for his roles in the ABC television series '' The Fugitive'' and the British sci-fi drama '' ...

). While the resulting Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty normalizes relations between Egypt and the west, in the midst of the Israeli occupation of Palestine greatly alienates Sadat from the rest of the

Arab world The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...

. On October 6, 1981, Sadat is assassinated as he and several foreign dignitaries review a military procession marking the 1973 crossing of the Suez.

Cast

Anwar al-Sadat Muhammad Anwar el-Sadat, (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers on 6 ...

* Madolyn Smith as

Jihan Sadat Jehan Sadat ( ar, جيهان السادات ''Jihān as-Sadāt'', ; née Safwat Raouf; 29 August 1933 – 9 July 2021) was an Egyptian human rights activist, the First Lady of Egypt from 1970 until her husband's Assassination of Anwar Sadat, as ...

Jeremy Kemp Edmund Jeremy James Walker (3 February 1935 – 19 July 2019), known professionally as Jeremy Kemp, was an English actor. He was known for his significant roles in the miniseries ''The Winds of War'' and ''War and Remembrance'', the film ''The ...

as Thompson *Reuven Bar-Yotam as Sibai *Eric Berry as Rashad *

Anne Heywood Anne Heywood (born 11 December 1931) is a British retired film actress, who is best known for her Golden Globe-nominated performance in ''The Fox''. Early life and career Born as Violet Joan Pretty in 1931 to Harold and Edna E. ( Lowndes) Pre ...

as Mrs. Raouf *

Ferdy Mayne Ferdy Mayne (or Ferdie Mayne) (born Ferdinand Philip Mayer-Horckel; 11 March 1916 – 30 January 1998) was a German-British stage and screen actor. Born in Mainz, he emigrated to the United Kingdom in the early 1930s to escape the Nazi regi ...

as Mullah (as Ferdinand Mayne) *

* Thaao Penghlis as Amer *

Nehemiah Persoff Nehemiah Persoff (August 2, 1919 – April 5, 2022) was an American character actor and painter. He appeared in more than 200 television series, films, and theatre productions and also performed as a voice artist in a career spanning 55 years, be ...

Leonid Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev; uk, links= no, Леонід Ілліч Брежнєв, . (19 December 1906– 10 November 1982) was a Soviet Union, Soviet politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Gener ...

Pepe Serna Pepe Serna (born July 23, 1944) is an American film and television actor and artist. Serna's first break in movies came in 1970 on the Roger Corman directed film ''The Student Nurses''. Over the years Serna has appeared in over 100 films. In t ...

as Atif Sadat *

Paul L. Smith Paul Lawrence Smith (June 24, 1936 – April 25, 2012) was an American-Israeli actor. Burly, bearded and imposing, he appeared in feature films and occasionally on television since the 1970s, generally playing "heavies" and bad guys. His most no ...

King Farouk Farouk I (; ar, فاروق الأول ''Fārūq al-Awwal''; 11 February 1920 – 18 March 1965) was the tenth ruler of Egypt from the Muhammad Ali dynasty and the penultimate King of Egypt and the Sudan, succeeding his father, Fuad I, in 193 ...

Jeffrey Tambor Jeffrey Michael Tambor (born July 8, 1944) is an American actor. He is known for his television roles such as Jeffrey Brookes, the uptight neighbor of Stanley and Helen Roper in the television sitcom ''The Ropers'' (1979–1980), as Hank Kings ...

as Sharaff *Aharon Ipalé as Israeli Man *Richard Kuss as Boldorov *

Hugh Gillin Hugh Clair Gillin Jr. (July 14, 1925 – May 4, 2004) was an American film and television actor. Gillin was born in Galesburg, Illinois. He was best known for playing Sheriff John Hunt in '' Psycho II'' and '' III''. Gillin has appeared in a to ...

as American Ambassador *

George Morfogen George Morfogen (March 30, 1933 – March 8, 2019) was an American stage, film and TV actor. He is known for playing Bob Rebadow in the HBO show '' Oz'', and for his role as Stanley Bernstein in the original '' V'' miniseries. He was of Greek ...

as Salem *James Garrett as British Corporal *Judith Penrod as TV Reporter *James O'Sullivan as Jordan *Alexander Zale as Shafi *

Tony Plana José Antonio Plana (born April 19, 1952) is a Cuban actor and director. He is known for playing Betty Suarez's father, Ignacio Suarez, on the ABC television show ''Ugly Betty'' and for voicing Manuel "Manny" Calavera in the video game ''Grim ...

as Dentist *James Staley as Williams *Nick Faltas as Raouf *Dennis Howard as

Elliot Richardson Elliot Lee Richardson (July 20, 1920December 31, 1999) was an American lawyer and public servant who was a member of the cabinet of Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. As U.S. Attorney General, he was a prominent figure in the Watergate ...

David Hess David Alexander Hess (September 19, 1936 – October 7, 2011) was an American actor, singer, songwriter, and director. He came to prominence for his portrayals of murderous villains and gruff characters in several films in the 1970s and 198 ...

as Israeli Soldier *Michael Saad as Libyan *Walt Hanna as

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

*Gertrudis Kuntz as

Golda Meir Golda Meir, ; ar, جولدا مائير, Jūldā Māʾīr., group=nb (born Golda Mabovitch; 3 May 1898 – 8 December 1978) was an Israeli politician, teacher, and ''kibbutznikit'' who served as the fourth prime minister of Israel from 1969 to 1 ...

*Ben Slack as

*Joe Renteria as Egyptian Soldier *Mohamed Abdul Kheir as Wedding Mullah *Nathan Lam as Rabbi

Reception

The film was negatively received in Egypt and was accused there of distorting history and slandering the Egyptian people, and was also criticized for the casting of a

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

actor, Lou Gossett, Jr., as Sadat. The Egyptian Ministry of Culture announced a ban on all films and television programs distributed by Columbia Pictures, and Egypt's artists' and film unions sued Columbia Pictures and the film's director, writer, and producers. The lawsuit was dismissed by an Egyptian court for lack of jurisdiction because the film's "distortions" and "slanders" occurred outside Egypt. Director Michaels said that the Egyptian government deserved the 1984 "overreaction award" for its handling of the miniseries.

References

External links

* * The full translated movie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwwYARiWon0 {{Operation Prime Time 1983 television films 1983 films 1980s biographical films 1983 drama films Operation Prime Time Films scored by Charles Bernstein Television series by Sony Pictures Television Works about Anwar Sadat Television shows set in Egypt Cultural depictions of Anwar Sadat Cultural depictions of Golda Meir Cultural depictions of Jimmy Carter Cultural depictions of Leonid Brezhnev Cultural depictions of Gamal Abdel Nasser Cultural depictions of Menachem Begin Films directed by Richard Michaels 1980s English-language films