#something else I like in this movie is how caried Ancient Egyptians are instead of choosing one race like a lot argue

[ben-the-hyena]

The fact I fell back into my Egyptian phase made me remember a French movie of my childhood, La Reine Soleil. It might not have been my favorite (sometimes the plot and 2d-3d animation were clumsy, its incorporation of magic felt weird and even as a kid I was not a fan of using real people who existed for fictions such as here Tutankhaten "Tut" and Ankhesenaton "Akhesa") but that allowed me to remember Gulmekiz and that i loved him

Context : Akhesa and Tut found about the plot against Akhenaten and his family and are run after by corrupted guards (ALL WHILE Hittites are threatening to attack) with the official reason that Tut kidnapped Akhesa which is of course a lie and an excuse. So the 2 kids are runaways and at some point hide inside a fisherman's boat. Said fisherman Gulmekiz finds them and from his POV and since he has no idea who they are thinks they are 2 stowaway orphans. He first sounds harsh and cruel demanding that if they want to stay and eat they better earn it by working and even forcibly taking Akhesa's bracelet as earring as payment

But it's because he is not very rich and that any food given to others or time wasted not fishing is a loss of precious time and money, it was a time where you had to be harsh to live if you were not rich. As he says (unpictured because of Tumblr 10 pics limit) he earned his food with the sweat of his brow and to him these 2 little thieves must learn to earn their life honestly by working. Which is technically charitable for the time period, as he says he could have knocked them overboard and yes he does laugh when they struggle but he doesn't mostreat them

This is when he starts to look sympathetic to the viewer. At night, after Tut and Akhesa feel asleep exhausted, not only does he raw alone and let them sleep, he takes the time to pause his rawing to put a blanket over them, even arranging it to make sure it covers them fully, and smiles at them tenderly. Which proves he got attached and is not bad, just strict

Later, as they arrive to Thebes and spot guards and know they will be be recognized and spotted, they hip overboard with no time to explain Gulmekiz the situation, he gets alarmed knowing there are crocodiles around and cries at them to come back (again, unpictured because of pictures limit, but he looks HORRIFIED and rushed to the edge of gis boat shouting). But once seeing they are safe and sound on the shore, he happily accepts they are gone and welcomes them to come back working with him whenever they would be needing to

This is when he arrives at the port and is asked if he saw them and that way learns who these teenagers were all along. He is of course VERY shocked (he treated the daughter of the pharaoh and another noble poorly and had them work I too would be shitting myself at the idea of the consequences if I lived under a theocracy) but still has the time to see something is fishy (if she were indeed kidnapped, why was she and the boy getting along ? And it kinda is convenient since she and her father are monotheists while every other high figure is wanting to be polytheist again right ?). So he plays dumb which irritates the guards and pretends not to know what they mean, in a matter of seconds as shocked as he is. Superb analysis and improvisation skill, dude. Protect these kids and fuck the police

Yet of course he doesn't want trouble again. So when Akhesa who is all alone (Tut got kidnapped by the Hittites for a ramson) comes back to him, he initially panics forbidding her to approach. But once she gets on board anyway and that time roles are reversed and he has to obey her since she finds out he does know her status now? he accepts grumpily grumbling. Yet as illegal as it is since she is searched and since he probably, knew given his previous scene, that she wasn't truly looked for for her good, he still helps. He grumpily breaks the law for that kid

Yet he can't help but notice the boy is not with her and he asks her where he is. To which she does not reply but cries instead. To his POV, this response could mean anything. He is dead, or he got captured, or they got separated and she is scared and alone (which she is). Whatever it is, he looks shocked, covering his mouth. They may be royals, they are in age to be his kids, and he did grow attached to them by working with them. Plus, at this moment of the movie, Akhenaten got betrayed with a coup and executed which is something all Egyptians must have heard about, so he must also know she is now a real grieving orphan and that she lost everything, even her status and riches

So what does he do ? He gives her back her "payment". Which he had forcibly taken anyway, and because he figures she would need it more than he does, as poor as he is. And when she looks at him questionningly, he just looks away and smirks. Omg feels

And once the coup is broken and she and Tut get back their titles and are bethroted as the ones true heirs, he eagerly cheers for them on the front of the crowd, super happy that they are well and that they got back what they deserved. And the couple of teens don't snob him, they are happy to see him too, Tut waving at him and Akhesa winking at him (unpictured again)

This is a Gulmekiz appreciation post