Directed by Youssef Chahine • 1979 • Egypt
Starring Naglaa Fathi, Mahmoud el-Meliguy, Farid Shawqi
Having spent the larger part of the 1960s and ’70s examining the rise and fall of Egypt’s first republic, director Youssef Chahine turned inwards with this kaleidoscopic, semi-autobiographical evocation of his wartime childhood, the first in a quartet of films collectively dubbed “Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.” A bustling, novelistically detailed recreation of the cosmopolitan Alexandria during World War II, the film follows Chahine’s teenage alter ego Yehia (Mohsen Mohieddin) as he escapes from the engulfing uncertainty of Egyptian reality into a world of Hollywood fantasy—only to find himself gradually pulled toward student activism. Working with some of Egypt’s biggest stars of the time and deftly balancing a dizzying array of subplots—including a queer romance—Chahine creates a deeply personal tapestry of art, politics, culture, and community at a transformative moment in Egyptian history.
Up Next in Directed by Youssef Chahine
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Alexandria: Again and Forever
Directed by Youssef Chahine • 1989 • Egypt
Starring Youssra, Hussein Fahmy, Youssef ChahineThe third installment in a series of four films Youssef Chahine made exploring his own life and times, ALEXANDRIA: AGAIN AND FOREVER stars the director himself as Yehia, a filmmaker whose planned HAMLET ...
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An Egyptian Story
Directed by Youssef Chahine • 1982 • Egypt
Starring Nour el-Sherif, Youssra, Soheir el-BablyA continuation of the self-exploration Youssef Chahine began with ALEXANDRIA . . . WHY?, this second autobiographical film unfolds as a surreal profusion of memories, fantasies, flashbacks, and hallucin...
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Dark Waters
Directed by Youssef Chahine • 1956 • Egypt
Starring Omar Sharif, Faten Hamama, Ahmed RamzyA hard-hitting commentary on class struggle and machismo set amid the dockyards of Alexandria in the immediate aftermath of Egypt’s 1952 revolution, this feverish social-realist melodrama stars the great ...
