Thursday, January 24, 2013

Cairo Station باب الحديد (dir: Youssef Chahine) - (1958) Egyptian one-sheet

Cairo Station (1958) - (dir: Youssef Chahine) Egyptian one-sheet

This landmark Egyptian film was directed by Youssef Chahine. Cinematography was by Alevise Orfanelli, dialogue was by Mohammad Abu Youssef and the story and screenplay were by Abdel Hai Adib. It is on film critic Ahmad Al-Hadari's 2007 list of the 100 most important Egyptian films. Plot summary: Kinawy (Youssef Chahine) was a hard-working newspaper seller at Cairo Station who suffered from a physical handicap. He was always looking at the pictures of beautiful women in the publications he sold. Hannouma (Hind Rostom) was an attractive young woman who worked at Cairo Station selling ice cream and leading a team of workers at the official canteen. She wanted to live a free life and work for an honorable well-paid living. She wanted to marry her fiance Abu Sari' (Farid Shawqi), the leader of the porters and defender of their rights and interests. Sari' was a straigtforward, tough guy who was loyal to his comrades and to his love. Kinawy loved Hannouma with a love that knew no bounds. He wanted her for himself and he revealed his love to her. Hannouma thought the first thing he wanted was her body to satisfy his lust, but he convinced her that he wanted to marry her and go away with her to a village far from Cairo Station. At that time Abu Sari' was busy forming a union for the porters and defending their right to a suitabl wage, medical care and help with emergencies. Then Kinawy suddenly discovered the truth: Hannouma refused to marry him because she loved Abu Sari'. He saw her in his arms and heard about her trip with him to the village for marriage. Kinawy overcame his emotional burden and decided to kill Hannouma. The people at Cairo Station realized Kinawy had lost his mind and undertook under Abu Sari's leadership to save Hannouma from her mad lover. At the last moment Hannouma was saved from the killer's clutches and Cairo Station went back to its tumultuoous life.

Cast and crew: Youssef Chahine, Farid Shawqi, Hind Rostom, Hassan el Baroudi, Abdel Aziz Khalil, Naima Wasfy, Said Khalil, Abdel Ghani Naqdi, Loutfi El Hakim, Abdel Hamid Bodaoha, F. El Demerdache, Said El Araby, Ahmed Abaza, Hana Abdel Fattah, Safia Sarwat, Abdel Hay Adib, Alevise Orfanelli, Assad Kellada, Sherine, Soheir, Esmat Mahmoud, Nawal Morsi, Gharib Moawad, Nadia Lutfi, Mohamed Abu Youssef



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