OMAR Sharif is back on the screen in “Mr. Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Qur’an”, a gentle, contemplative movie by the French director François Depeyron and released in Paris on Sept. 17. The film was shown at the 60th Venice Film Festival last August, when Omar Sharif was also given the Golden Lion for lifetime achievement in film.
Omar Sharif was born in Alexandria in 1932 into a wealthy Lebanese-Egyptian family. After receiving a degree — in math and physics — from Cairo’s Victoria College, he worked in his father’s lumber company. His movie career did not start until 1953 in the Egyptian film “Siraa Fil Wady” co-starring Faten Hamama, who was soon to become his wife. Sharif immediately became popular, and between 1954 and 1961, he starred in 22 Arabic films, often alongside Hamama. Their marriage ended in 1974.
The first English-language movie that launched Sharif on his half-century as an international star was Lawrence of Arabia (1962), directed by David Lean. His role in the epic earned him an Oscar nomination as a Best Supporting Actor. His next role, again with David Lean, was in Doctor Zhivago (1965. In 1968 he co-starred in Funny Girl with Barbara Streisand.
Omar Sharif continued to star in movies in various countries (the US, Great Britain, France, Italy and Japan), but his fame started to fade in the 70s. He turned to theater and movies for the TV, but he mainly became famous in the world of bridge. Always known on the set of his movies as a gambling man, Sharif is also a professional bridge player, and he represented Egypt in the 1964 Olympic bridge competition.
In “Mr. Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Qur’an”, Sharif (Ibrahim) is an old Muslim grocer who befriends Momo (Pierre Boulanger), a Jewish boy. The movie is set in the working class neighborhood of the rue Bleue in 1960s Paris. Ibrahim spends most of his time behind the counter of his shop reading the Qur’an, whereas Momo is an adolescent from a broken family. The young boy is confused, lonely and neglected. He lives alone with his father, who is paralyzed by depression after his wife left him with their other son. Ibrahim offers the boy comfort and friendship by teaching Momo his principles of life and passing on his knowledge and wisdom. Together they embark on a journey of discovery, in which Ibrahim leads Momo toward his future while Momo allows Ibrahim to look back and examine his past.
“Mr. Ibrahim” is a tribute to tolerance and compassion, a plea for different religions to live together harmoniously. Although often sad, it offers a glimmer of optimism and a hope for a better world.
— Arab News Review 16 October 2003
