In a modern adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew, the handsome vet (Rushdy Abaza) finds himself obliged to tame the beautiful but wild (Lobna Abdel Aziz) with the suport of her family who is suffering from her tantrums and her tyranny in this light comedy presented by a group of the most prominent Egyptian film stars. Will love defeat tyranny and will the doctor succeed in his mission?
During the summer of 1956, Egypt under President Gamal Abdul Nasser became embroiled in a conflict with Great Britain, France and Israel over the decision by the Egyptian leader to nationalize the Suez Canal in the wake of the refusal of the United States, and consequently the World Bank, to fund the construction of the Aswan High Dam. This pivotal period in the modern history of Egypt has been intelligently recreated in docu-drama style in a critically acclaimed film, “Nasser 56,” by Egyptian director Mohamed Fadel and starring Egyptian actor Ahmad Zaki as Nasser.
Antar, son of prince Chaddad and a black slave mother, longs to be recognized by his father and win the love of his cousin, the princess Abla. In order to prove himself worthy, he undergoes all manner of obstacles and eventually becomes the greatest warrior in all Arabia.
There have been several Middle Eastern movies made about Antar, dating back to the silent era. In western cinema, Antar was played by Victor Mature in The Veils of Bagdad (1953) and by Kirk Morris in Anthar l’Invincibile (Anthar the Invincible) although these films re-imagined the character as a generic Caucasian hero with little relation to the historical figure. In this picture, Antar is portrayed by Egyptian actor Farid Chawki wearing “blackface” makeup and a nappy wig.
Antar bin Chaddad spans over two hours and includes scenes of warfare, floggings, stabbings, stonings, beheadings, plenty of swordplay as well as Bollywood-style songs and dances. Filmed in vivid Eastmancolor and scored with music from The Ten Commandments and Ben-Hur.
Samia and Farid bump into each other by chance. Farid ends up renting a room in the house where Samia with her troop of dancers live. Their opposite characters clash while there’s also chemistry between them. Some misunderstandings drive the two away from each other. But events turn in their favour.
Tahseen loves his girlfriend Mona but her controlling and domineering mother Zareefa is against their marriage and believes her daughter deserves a better suitor than him. When the mother drowns in an unexpected accident, the wedding of Tahseen and Mona takes place shortly after the funeral, and Mona’s father Ashour plans to wed his old time lover Zoba. However, Zareefa’s ghost appears in front of Tahseen who is the only person that can see her as she forces him to divorce Mona at once, but he refuses to do so and her presence causes more problems to the people who thought they were rid of her.
Former Miss Egypt and international recording artist Dalida sings and stars in this steamy 1950s drama, following a conniving nurse’s (Dalida) attempts to seduce a married doctor (Nabil Al alfi) and his jealous wife’s subsequent downfall. Midriff-baring enchantress Samia Gamal — who plays the physician’s envy-consumed spouse — makes a memorable splash by performing a classic Oriental belly dance. Kouka and Sirag Mounir co-star.
Hailed as one of the greatest Egyptian comedies of all time, Everything Is Fine stars Egyptian theatre legend Naguib El Rihany as Salama, a humble office clerk whose routine bank-deposit errand quickly evolves into the adventure of a lifetime. After finding the bank closed and the streets seemingly swarming with thieves, Salama decides to place the company money in a safe at the luxurious Nefretiti Palace Hotel. But things go hilariously awry when the hotel manager mistakes him for an eagerly-awaited guest, the wealthy Prince Kandahar of Bloudestan. As in the early films of The Marx Brothers and other timeless screwball comedies of the 1930s, Everything Is Fine pokes fun at society’s elite while taking viewers on a fast-paced comedic romp that will leave audiences of all ages feeling fine.
I have watched this movie maybe 20 times till now ,and every time i got out with the feeling that this movie is great , it gives you a great picture about Egypt before 1952 , The land owner that control the farmers (Basha) and treat them like salves , the killing circle (Al-Tar) that is well known in upper Egypt , and the love story that will never change with time , and the evil and greedy people that never get enough , it is all in this movies. The uncountable number of stars with a very talented director gave us this state of art movie. (islamx – IMDB).
When the lives of Sheikh Mahmoud, a Muslim preacher (played by Omar Sharif), and Boulos, a Christian priest (played by Adel Emam), are threatened by religious extremists on both sides, the Egyptian government inducts them into a witness protection program that requires them to disguise themselves as the Christian Marcus and the Muslim Sheikh Hassan, in a reversal of their religious identities. When they unwittingly move into the same building, a friendship blossoms that must, along with a romance between their respective children, withstand the difficulties of prejudice and social persecution. The film addresses issues of religious extremism, intolerance and sectarian violence, and emphasizes the possibility of friendship and love between members of different religions.
Being the long awaited first collaboration between Adel Emam and Omar Sharif, arguably the most powerful actors in Egyptian cinema and the Middle East in general, Hassan and Marcus was a much-anticipated summer 2008 blockbuster. However, its message proved so controversial that Facebook groups sporting Adel Emam’s picture in Coptic Christian garb called for a boycott of his movies, and the resulting emotional distress is reported to have prompted Imam to move from his home in Cairo to a summer house in Porto Marina, a resort on Egypt’s North Coast. Emam, Sharif and other collaborators on the film have vehemently defended its content and criticized many conservatives and religious extremists who consider it blasphemous.
Fathi Nofal Imam, an unknown but no-nonsense attorney with a taste for liquor and loose women, is assigned to take a case related to one of the local politicians. The story centers on his representation of Samira, a woman up on prostitution charges. His opponent is the Islamist lawyer Ali and both of them face a stern Muslim judge. Despite formidable obstacles, the clever Imam is able to work the crooked justice system and use religion to free Samira, after which he becomes a personal adviser for the local politician.
Outwardly presented as a light comedy, the film contains serious dramatic undertones that can be taken as a condemnation of corrupt politics and religious extremism. Written by Midhat Eladl and starring the popular Egyptian actor Adel Emam and the famous actress Youssra. Featured at the 1995 Cairo International Film Festival.
According to Andrew Hammond, author of Popular Culture in the Arab World, “In 1995 Egyptian actress Yousra was taken to court over a scene in Tuyur al-zalam (‘Birds of Darkness’) because her bare legs offended an Islamist fundamentalist sheikh, Yousef al-Bardri.” Known for pushing the boundaries of Egyptian cinema, director Sherif Arafa has said of this film: “The idea of terrorism and the government that’s in Tuyur Al-Zalam (Birds of Darkness) had to be expressed at the time. We were not just talking about the ‘opportunists’ of terrorism, there were government opportunists as well, and they are both equally dangerous. And both are terrorists. And the conflict between them will ruin the country. So be careful.”
This film can be considered one of the world’s best movies, actually it was chosen on top of the best 100 movies in Egypt. The movie is adopted from a novel written by Abdel Rahman El Sharkawi and was directed by Youssef Shahin. Abdel Rahman El Sharkawi is a well known novelist and play-writer, in fact he’s much more recognized for the plays he wrote. The movie “El-Ard” was produced in 1969, which falls inn a very important period of time in the Egyptian history, at this time the Egyptian ideology was being restructured. As for the film itself, I would start by the choice of actors, when you think of the actors that were in Egypt at that time, you can’t find a replacement for any of the actors in the movie, and you feel that no one else can play in any of the roles. I would start by the Great actor Mahmoud El-Meliguy. His performance in this movie is like an intense lecture in the art of acting, Mohamed Abu Swelam, that character he played is so nicely written by Abdel Rahman El Sharkawi, it’s a character facing so many struggles and at the same time with a history to be proud of, but it reached a point where he feels helpless in the struggle between him and the rich man in his village, who is connected to the Egyptian Royal palace (the time of the story was before Egypt changed from a kingdom to a republic). At the same time he’s facing struggles with the English authority, which he has a long history with, and finally a struggle with the people of his village who are facing the same in justice he’s facing!! This dilemma reflects to a great extent how the human behavior changed over the years. Back to Mahmoud El-Meliguy’s acting, if this movie was translated to other languages I bet he would have been rewarded for his performance. I believe he’s one of the best world’s actors. He was known for playing the roles of gangsters and bad guy’s, although all his friends and colleagues refer to him as the kindest person, in this movie his character was the main character in the film, another actors in this film were, Ezzat El Alaili and Yehia Shahin, they were both performing amazingly in there roles. The movie can be considered as a success story, even the music and the song performed were so distinguished and were so related to the movie. As for the directing, I believe Youssef Shahin did the right choice of actors which got his mission even easier. But this does not mean he wasn’t good. In fact this is his masterpiece. Finally, I would like to recommend this movie for any one who wants to enjoy acting. (Amr Kamal – IMDB).
“Mother, come and see how beautiful Damascus is!”, little Omar cries out to his mother, a young woman drained by mourning. The widely acclaimed, partially autobiographical, Dreams of the City marks the turn towards auteur Syrian cinema, resurrecting the memories of childhood of the working poor. A young widow and her two sons are forced to move from their native Quneytra to Damascus, where her father forces them to fend for themselves. Against the backdrop of successive military coups that punctuated the turbulent 1950s in Syria, Adib, the eldest of the boys comes of age in the vast and overwhelming urban magic of Damascus. The image of mosques, faces and the greenery of Damascus swirl by as Adib witnesses a dizzying and violent day in the city. At last, the wounded child gazes at the full moon; the city shatters against it.
Quote: During the Second and Third Crusades, Saladin beat the Franks in battle partly because he was helped by an Arab Christian named Issan. Thus he was able to reconquer Jerusalem and take many prisoners, including Guy de Lusignan, a Christian King. This big budget production, promoted by Assia, a well-known female producer, enabled Chahine to offer an Arab perspective on the history of the Crusades such as presented by Hollywood and Cinecittà. In order to obtain Egyptian army’s logistical support and also administrative clearances, Chahine cunningly persuaded Nasser, the charismatic ruler of Egypt, that the film was being made as a tribute to him. The result is an epic work, showing Saladin at the height of his victories during the Second and Third Crusades, in which Chahine achieves brilliantly striking setups that avoid the need to show onscreen violence. “Before the shoot, the Coptic community was afraid that this film might provoke tension between Christians and Muslims. The latter feared that the film would not show them in a sufficiently glorious light. I told each that I would do my best, really just to relax things, although the truth is that the film offers as accurate a depiction as possible of what actually happened”, Chahine was to explain years later. “Nasser showed it to every president who came to see him. I do not believe, however, that this film should be seen as a tribute to Nasser, as people have called it”, he added. Saladin’s military and strategic victories against the Franks are used here as an opportunity not to glorify Saladin but as a backdrop to the story of the love affair between Issan and Louise de Lusignan, one of the sultan’s prisoners. ~ Tewfik Hakem
The last film in Youssef Chahine’s autobiographical Alexandria Trilogy stars Chahine himself as his cinematic alter ego, Yehia Mourad, completing his merging of fiction with real life and drama with psychodrama. Opening with Chahine’s triumph at the Berlin Film Festival, where he took home the Silver Bear for Alexandria…Why? (the first film in the trilogy–this is layered stuff), the film explores Yehia’s obsession with his young star, Amir (Amr Abdel-Guelil), while participating in the general strike of 1987. As Yehia fantasizes about the films they would make together (one of them looks like a loony take on Jesus Christ Superstar), he elevates Amir from a kind of adopted son to cinematic messiah. But while caught up in the strike, Yehia becomes enchanted by a former actress, Nadia (Yousra), turned dedicated revolutionary, and he decides to cast her in his next feature.
Quote: After studying literature at Cairo University, Dunia, 23 years old, wants to become a professional dancer. She attends audition for an oriental dance contest where she recites Arabian poetry without any body movement. She explains to the perplexed jury that a woman can’t move her body or evoke act of love when society ask women to hide their femininity. She is selected and meets Beshir, an intellectual and activist who will supervise her thesis on ecstasy in Sufi love poetry. Their attraction is mutual. This could be liberation for Dunia but the constraints on women in Egyptian society goes deeper than she suspects.
Quote: In 1798, Napoleon lands his army in Egypt, defeats the Mameluke warlords (the remnants of Ottoman rule), and goes on to Cairo. Three brothers, who are Egyptian patriots, chafe under Mameluke rule and reject the prospect of French domination. Bakr, the eldest, is a hothead, quick to advocate armed rebellion; Ali is more philosophical and poetic; Yehia is young and impressionable. One of Napoleon’s generals, the one-legged intellectual Caffarelli, wants to make Frenchmen out of Ali, Yehia, and other Egyptians, opening a bakery where their father works, becoming a tutor, and declaring his love for them. Is tragedy the only resolution of these conflicting loyalties?
This big-budget historical epic from acclaimed Egyptian director Youssef Chahine features a crazed turn by Patrice Chereau as Napoleon Bonaparte. The film, an Egyptian-French co-production, deals with Napoleon’s occupation of Alexandria and its effect on a typical Egyptian family. Michel Piccoli leads the cast as a general in Napoleon’s army who tentatively befriends a local poet.
In the late 1800s, an isolated Egyptian mountain clan sustains itself by exploiting Egypt’s ancient heritage, secretly raiding the tombs of the Pharaohs in Thebes. “One of the greatest Egyptian films ever made, Al-Mummia has an extremely unusual tone – stately, poetic, with a powerful grasp of time and the sadness it carries. The carefully measured pace, the almost ceremonial movement of the camera, the classical Arabic spoken on the soundtrack, the unsettling score by the great Italian composer Mario Nascimbene – they all work in perfect harmony… This picture has a sense of history like no other, and in the end, the film is strangely, even hauntingly consoling – the final understanding of who and what we are” (Martin Scorsese).
Quote: This is a classical melodrama from Egypt and nicely shot in black and white. It is a tale of relations between man and woman, death, revenge and forgiveness. To watch a film is not just the moving images it is also a opportunity to travel in time and space. Here one is moved back too Egypt in the fifties. I do believe that with the travel back in time there is also and chance to learn something about norms and values, the society and how the relations between people was at that particular time in that particular environment. Doa al karawan AKA The Nightingale’s Prayer (1959) was chosen as one of the best Egyptian films of all time, and it also stars Faten Hamama and she is maybe the number one female screen icon of Egyptian cinema. This film is based on a novel by Taha Hussein and he is considered to be one of the finest and most influential writers of modern Egyptian literature.
Mustafaa is a high school philosophy teacher whose life is turned upside down when the landlord decides to raise his rent. When he fails to pay the new rent, he moves to a cheap dilapidated room on the roof of the building, which had been abandoned after being occupied for many years by a black magician. Mostafaa begins his own journey with black magic when he falsely claims an ability to communicate with spirits and demons, and becomes rich and famous working as a fortune teller. However, getting arrested as a charlatan puts his ‘magic powers’ to the ultimate test. Directed by Ali Abd Elkhaik and starring the well known Egyptian actor Ahmed Zaki.
In one of their best roles ever, distinguished actors Nour al Sherif and Saad Hosni star in this overwhelming movie which witnesses the unstable social and political life in Egypt during the late 60s and early 70s of the last century. The lives of a group of university students are turned upside down because of their talks about the political instability the country was going through at the time. While some of the students managed to recover, others have been doomed and fought for their lives. Based on the novel of the same name by Naguib Mahfouz!
