Directed by Youssef Chahine • 1999 • Egypt, France
Starring Hany Salama, Hanan Turk, Nabila Ebeed
This wildly plotted drama marks the end of Youssef Chahine’s love affair with the United States, commenting on everything from capitalist greed to American cultural imperialism to terrorism within the context of a roiling Oedipal soap opera. Nabila Ebeed—one of Egypt’s leading box-office stars of the ’80s and ’90s—plays the jealous, possessive matriarch of a rich family who will stop at nothing to destroy her son’s marriage to an intrepid investigative journalist chasing a story about corruption among wealthy elites that may just hit a bit too close to home. Look out for a cameo from none other than Palestinian-American superstar intellectual Edward Said.
Up Next in Directed by Youssef Chahine
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The Sixth Day
Directed by Youssef Chahine • 1986 • Egypt
Starring Dalida, Mohsen Mohieddin, ShwikarThis singularly arresting adaptation of a novel by renowned writer Andrée Chedid casts French pop star Dalida (in her final screen performance) as a married washerwoman trying to save the life of her stricken ...
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Saladin the Victorious
Directed by Youssef Chahine • 1963 • Egypt
Starring Ahmed Mazhar, Salah Zulfikar, Nadia LutfiConceived as an ode to Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, this titanic super spectacle, set in the twelfth-century Crusades, is Egyptian cinema’s rebuttal to the Hollywood Christian epic. Ahmed Maz...
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Adieu Bonaparte
Directed by Youssef Chahine • 1985 • Egypt
Starring Michel Piccoli, Mohsen Mohieddin, Mohamed AtefYoussef Chahine’s rich and nuanced exploration of culture clash and connection centers...
