Long career of controversial but acclaimed filmmaking rewarded
CAIRO: Egypt s greatest living filmmaker Yousef Chahine received France s National Legion of Honor order last Thursday in a celebration attended by the French ambassador in Egypt.
Chahine, who was promoted from a knight to an officer, was given France s premier order for his outstanding contribution to the world of art and cinema for more than half a century.
Born in Alexandria in 1926, the son of a lawyer and a strong Wafd party member, Chahine was educated at the prestigious Victoria College and studied cinema at the Pasadena Playhouse in Los Angeles.
Chahine s film debut Baba Amin (Father Amin) starring Fatin Hamama and Hussein Riad, was released in 1950 to critical acclaim and significant success.
While his early films were generally commercial, well-made entertainments such as Siraa Fil-Wadi (Struggle in the Valley) and Inta Habibi (My One and Only Love) that helped him refine his techniques and establish a name in the highly competitive Egyptian cinema of the 50s, he would later push the boundaries of Egyptian filmmaking.
Chahine’s initial breakthrough came in 1958 when he released Jamila, a moving story about the Algerian war, and Bab El-Hadid (Cairo Station), which earned him a Golden Bear nomination at the Vince Film Festival.
“Cairo Station, a huge flop when released, is now considered to be one of the 10 greatest Egyptian films in history. The film, which chronicles the psychological breakdown of an alienated, impoverished and sexually repressed newspaper vendor, was one of the first Egyptian films to explore the struggle of Egyptian individualism against the collective, homogenous Nasser era society.
In 1963, Chahine released Saladin, a massive exquisite epic drama about the Crusades and tolerance between religions. The film single-handedly led to the bankruptcy of its producer after failing to attract any sizable commercial success.
Chahine found it more difficult to finance his films after the failure of Saladin ; however, surprisingly enough, he continued to direct more serious, non-mainstream pictures with overt political and social themes.
Al-Ard (The Land), a tragic story of the crushed peasant unity against Nasser s land policies, followed in 1969, earning him his third Golden Palm nomination at the Cannes Film Festival.
Chahine s next film Al-Ikhtiyar (The Choice), an exploration of the uncertainty inflicted upon Egyptian intellectuals after the 1967 defeat, won him the Tanit d Or award at the Carthage Film Festival in 1979.
Al-Asfour (The Sparrow) (1972), a direct attack on the corruption of Nasser s Egypt, was banned for two years to officially make him one of the most controversial filmmakers in the Arab World.
By the end of the 70s, Chahine started to create more introspective films with Iskanderija … lih (Alexandria… Why?), the first of his four-part autobiography for which he won the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in 1978.
Chahine’s last major phase was composed chiefly of French co-produced historical pieces such as Adieu Bonaparte (Farewell Bonaparte) in 1985, Al-Youm Al-Sadis (The 6th Day) in 1986, Al-Mohager (The Immigrant) in 1994 and Al-Massir (Destiny) in 1997.
In that year, Chahine was granted the lifetime achievement award from Cannes, making him the only Arab filmmaker in history to win this greatly coveted honor.
Never shying from controversy, Chahine was the first Egyptian filmmaker to depict homosexual relationships on screen in “Alexandria … Why?
His biblical adaptation of the story of Joseph was marred by a series of lawsuits after the release of the film. Chahine is also an active member of the political opposition group Kefaya and a fierce critic of President Hosni Mubarak.
Chahine is currently shooting his new film Heya Fawda (Is it Chaos?) to be released next year.
