Episode number 3 of Series “Alexandria Trilogy”.
In this third and final instalment of Youssef Chahine’s “Alexandria” trilogy (preceded by Alexandria, why? and An Egyptian story) Chahine’s protagonist and alter-ego, Yehia, is now an aging filmmaker who laments the state of the Egyptian film industry and joins his colleagues on strike to protest their circumstances. Simultaneously Yehia (played by the director himself) finds himself attracted to two actors - the handsome young Amr, who Yehia works with on laboured productions, and Nadia, with whom he hopes to collaborate. Following on from the themes explored in “An Egyptian story”, Yahia heartlessly forfeits his personal relationships in favour of his work. Yahine’s struggle to reconcile his art with his ambitions and personal failings is set against Egypt’s divisive drive, in the 1980s, toward democratic reform. The film takes on a surreal flavour with several musical interludes (one delightfully recalling “Singin’ in the rain” as Yehia and Amr celebrate winning the Silver Bear award at Berlin). Chahine applies his signature energy to the film - an appealing mix of whimsy, satire and barbed attacks on the political and social situation in his beloved homeland. In Arabic with English subtitles.
Content notification
Our collection comprises over 40,000 moving image works, acquired and catalogued between the 1940s and early 2000s. As a result, some items may reflect outdated, offensive and possibly harmful views and opinions. ACMI is working to identify and redress such usages.
Learn more about our collection and our collection policy here. If you come across harmful content on our website that you would like to report, let us know.
Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
318252
Languages
Arabic
English
Subject categories
Advertising, Film, Journalism, Mass Media & TV → Biographical films
Advertising, Film, Journalism, Mass Media & TV → Foreign language films
Advertising, Film, Journalism, Mass Media & TV → Motion pictures
Advertising, Film, Journalism, Mass Media & TV → Motion pictures - Production and direction
Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Egypt - Social life and customs
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Ambition
Education, Instruction, Teaching & Schools → Creative ability
Family, Gender Identity, Relationships & Sexuality → Desire
Feature films → Feature films - Egypt
Feature films → Feature films - France
Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Men - Psychology
Sound/audio
Sound
Colour
Colour
Holdings
MOV file ProRes4444; Digital Preservation Master - overscan
MPEG-4 Digital File; ACMI Digital Access Copy - overscan