Malek Khouri’s interest in Youssef Chahine dates back from his high school years in Lebanon in the mid-1970s when his iconic film, The Sparrow, was released. He presents us here with the most comprehensive and up-to-date study in English to appear on Chahine’s work since his death in 2007. This important contribution fills a gap in cinematographic studies but its content has clearly been written exclusively for film critics, enthusiasts and students.
Khouri acknowledges that Chahine’s style affected his ability to communicate with broader audiences, but fails to learn from the filmmaker’s shortcomings. Despite some brilliant passages, the text is too dense and its intellectual verbiage is annoying.
In an interview given in 1998, Chahine admits that many people would watch his films but could not understand them:
“I used to make films that did not complement the level of artistic and political consciousness and expectations of the period’s audience. Now I hope to make films that are simple, but also carry a clear message and are presented in a decent cinematic language. This does not lessen the value of my work and at the same time, it allows the audience to genuinely enjoy my films. This is what I try to do in The Emigrant and Destiny and what I will try to do in my upcoming film.”
Destiny (Al-Masir) was awarded the 50th anniversary Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1997 and it is considered one of his most popular films outside the Arab world. The film presents a superficial overview of twelfth-century Andalusia where a cosmopolitan Arab civilization was driven by economic expansion, scientific progress and cultural innovation.
The success of this film echoes that of his second feature film in 1951, Ibn Al-Nil (The Son of the Nile) — the first Egyptian film to be shot on location outside the studio. It was also a big financial success, costing 13,000 Egyptian pounds to produce but making over 70,000.
Born in Alexandria in 1926, Chahine began his film career after returning from the United States where he had obtained an acting diploma from Pasadena Playhouse in 1948. Instead of working as an actor, Chahine joined the publicity department of Twentieth Century Fox in Cairo and directed his first film, Baba Amin (Father Amin) in 1950.
He produced a number of musicals, which reflect his love for American popular cinema. Music from the 1970’s became a distinguishing feature in his films, which cumulated with his work with Lebanese singer, Majida Al-Roumi, in The Return of the Prodigal Son and later in Alexandria Again and Forever, and with Tunisian singer, Latifa, in Silence…We’re Rolling.
Despite the many changes introduced to cinema by Gamal Abdel Nasser, the cinema industry thrived during his regime. After his death, the Egyptian Film industry — which was already experiencing problems with the growing importance of television — experienced further difficulties. The number of movie theaters dwindled from 350 in 1955 to less than 250 in 1975.
Filmmakers, including Chahine, incurred financial problems and the three films he made in the late 1970s were financed by the Algerian state production company, ONCIC. His increased reliance on foreign co-production prompted him to set up his own production company, Misr Al-Alamiya (Misr International), immediately after the production of the 1973 film, The Sparrow.
“The company’s shrewd business practices provided Chahine with an alternative financing base he needed to survive following the collapse of the Egyptian public sector, and has gone on to provide career-launching support for emerging Egyptian filmmakers ever since,” says Khouri.
He suffered a heart attack while filming The Sparrow, which affected his later films, especially The Alexandria Trilogy, which provided Chahine with the opportunity to open his heart and soul on the screen. The first film of the trilogy, Alexandria …Why won the Silver Berlin Bear at the 1979 Berlin Film Festival, and was consequently released successfully in several European countries. The other two films were Hadduta Masriya (An Egyptian Story) in 1982 and Alexandria Again and Forever in (1990). Each of these films highlights a period of particular importance in Egyptian and Arab history.
According to Khouri, by engaging the audiences in his self-critical and self-conscious re-assessment of Arab history, Chahine challenges audiences to re-examine the Arab world under a new light. This was certainly the case with Adieu Bonaparte, which triggered a colossal controversy and was received by a divided opinion.
Samir Farid, a respected film critic, reproaches Chahine for believing that the French invasion of Egypt marks the dawn of a new era in Egyptian history. He believes that at the end of the eighteenth century, Egypt was ready for change.
It has been said that Chahine’s later films such as The Other, Silence… We’re Rolling, and Alexandria…New York, co-produced with the French Canal+ and France 2 Cinema attempted to please the French public. Yet, in his ultimate films, he comes up very strongly against globalization and the difficulties to meet the new “challenges of a hegemonic culture of consumerism, fear and inferiority.”
“Chahine is at his best when he indulges the specificity of localized Egyptian reality, and it is only then that this filmmaker’s international appeal reaches its peak,” (who said that? Farid?)
His last film and most popular one in years, Chaos (2007), reconciled him with the public who had problems in understanding his recent films.
Chahine’s cinematographic legacy is unique. No other Arab film director has captured on screen so many aspects of the changes and turmoils that have rocked the Arab world. Despite all the frustrations, financial difficulties and criticism, he never bowed to anyone and always remained true to himself and his Arab identity. A number of Chahine’s films are already considered classics, and time will shed a new light on this unique body of work, which deserves a special place in the pantheon of world cinema.
Book info:
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