This is a 27" x 39" poster designed by al-Khad for the 1986 Atef
E-Taib film Language File AKA Malaf fil-Adab written
by Wahid Hamed and starring
Farid Shawqi as Rashad. Plot summary: Vice Squad Officer Saeed [Salah
al-Saadany] is upset because his boss stops an investigation of Alia
because of her political connections. This prompts him to attempt to
get convictions based on falsified information.
Cast and crew: Atef E-Taib, Wahid Hamid, Farid Shawqi, Said Shimi,
Madiha Kamel, Salah al-Saadany, Tewfik El Dekn, Ahmed Bedir, Ali Al
Ghandour, Mahmoud Al Iraqi, Youssef Dawood, Taghreid El Beshbishy,
Olfat Imam, Abdul Jawad Metwali, Zakaria Mouafi, Salwa Othman, Rafat
Ragi, Nasser Seif
This is a 27" x 39" Egyptian poster designed by Abdel Aziz and Abdel
Fathy for the 1982 Mohamed Abdel Aziz film At the Minister's Door
based on story, screenplay and dialogue by Samir Abdel Azim
and starring Adel Imam as Kamal. Plot summary: Noora's [Youssra]
father [Salah Nazmi] refuses to allow her to marry Kamal because his family is too
poor. A neighbor woman named Anhar [Safia El Emari] marries Kamal's
father [Tewfik El Dekn] after her fiance Khamis [Sa'eed Saleh] abandons her.
Cast and crew: Mohamed Abdel Aziz, Abdel Fathy, Mohamed Abdel Aziz,
Adel Imam, Youssra, Tewfik El Dekn, Salah Nazmi, Sa'eed Saleh, Safia
El Emari, Ahmed Rateb, Ahmed Bedir, Ahmed Shokry, Lucy, Mokhtar Al
Sayed, Ibrahim Qadry, Essam Farid, Samir Abdelazim"
This is a 27" x 39" Egyptian poster for the 2001 Youssef Chahine
film Silence We're Rolling starring Latifa as Malek. Plot
summary: Malek is a popular singing star who lives with her aristocrat
mother and her daughter Lola in an old villa, where she has been
living since her divorce. Malek has fallen in love with Lam'i, a
conniving boy who is after her wealth and wants to use her to get into
film. Because of this relationship Malek neglects her art. Lola
collaborates with Naser in an effort to expose Lam'i.
Cast and crew: Youssef Chahine, Latifa, Ahmed Bedir, Ahmed Wafik,
Magda El-Khatib, Zaki Abdel Wahab, Ahmed Mehrez, Mostafa Shaaban,
Ruby, Cherif Mohy Eddine, Khaled Fouad, Hani Salama, Hanan Turk,
Khaled El Ghandour, Mohamed El Abendani, Aina Yehia
This is a 27" x 39" Egyptian poster for the 1986 Mohamed Khan
film Omar's Journey based on a story by Mohamed Khan and Raouf
Tawfiq and starring Farouk Al-Fichawy. Plot Summary: Omar [Farouk
Al-Fichawy] lives dependent on his father the wealthy Al-Gawahargi
[Mohamed Reda]. His father wants him to deliver a bag of jewels to a
colleague in Tanta. On the way he runs out of gas. A worker also
named Omar [Mamdouh Abd El Aleem] at a rural gas station tries to help
him refuel but uses the wrong type. While they are trying to solve
this problem a driver [Ahmad Abdel Waress] who had agreed to provide
the correct type of fuel arrives in a big yellow dump truck and beats
up Omar. The two Omars later continue the trip after picking up a
local prostitute named Negah [Mediha Kamel] who is on her way to Port
Said. With nothing to deliver in Tanta, they change the itinerary to
take Negah to Port Said. When they stop at a restaurant for food they
see the thieves in the bathroom and get into a brief inconclusive
fight. Then they continue, driving at night. That night the first
Omar and Negah sleep together when they stop at a hotel; then they
continue the trip. On the way they are attacked again by the same
thieves with the big yellow truck, who steal the jewelry and the car
and abandon the truck. The three of them continue to Suez in the
truck. There they find Omar's stolen automobile abandoned and wrecked
by the road on a rocky beach. Negah and the second Omar continue in
the truck, leaving the first Omar with the wrecked automobile. Negah
gets out of the truck and hitches a ride with another truck driver
after the two of them argue. She immediately begins coming on to her
new driver; the film ends with the first Omar sitting sadly in his
useless automobile. A radio is playing.
Cast and crew: Ahmad Abdel Waress, Mohamed Reda, Mamdouh Abd El
Aleem, Ahmed Bedir, Zahrat El-Ola, Madiha Kamel, Farouk Al-Fichawy,
Mohamed Khan, Tarek El-Telmessani, Raouf Tawfiq, Youcef Rajai, Samia
Al-Alfy, Ismail Mahmoud, Osman Abdel Moneim, Hanem Mohamed, Zakaria
Mouafi, Hosny Abdul Jalil, Ahdey Sadek, Ahmed Abu Abih, Mohamed
Al-Dardiri, Magdy Ahmed Aly, Hanan Youssef
This is a 27" x 39" Egyptian poster by an unknown designer for the
1991 Mohamed Khan film The Knight of the City AKA fares
al-medina based on a story by Mohamed Khan with screenplay and
dialogue by Fayez Ghaly and starring Mahmoud Hemida as Fares. Plot
Summary: The film is set in Cairo in the year 1988. The filming was
done in 32 days beginning 26 May 1990. It tells a complex story about
the life of Fares Hassan al-Helali, a prosperous and somewhat
conniving mid-level businessman dealing in currency, automobiles and
real estate. His wealth comes from currency trading and the running
of a number of large commercial projects. The main line of this
multi-threaded plot is a conflict between Fares and another slightly
more prosperous businessman and drug merchant Ahmed Al-Wezzan [Abdel
Aziz Makhyoun]. As the film begins Fares worries how he will raise the
five million pounds he needs to pay a debt to Ahmed. He ends up
selling everything to manage it, but in the end it is Fares who
triumphs in a series of tense and sometimes violent encounters.
In the beginning Fares quarrels with his ex wife Dalal [Soad Nasr]
about their son [Abdel Aziz al-Qarantili]. He had separated from
Dalal to live with her son Bakr [Farid Naguib Sorur], a university
student, and with his new lover. This is the start of another plot
line in which the son is kidnapped by Ahmed's gang, disappears,
eventually becomes addicted to drugs and is then found using them and
beaten up by Fares in a public bathroom.
In the beginning Fares quarrels with his ex wife Dalal [Soad Nasr]
about their son [Abdel Aziz al-Qarantili]. He had separated from
Dalal to live with her son Bakr [Farid Naguib Sorur], a university
student, and with his new lover. This is the start of another plot
line in which the son is kidnapped by Ahmed's gang, disappears,
eventually becomes addicted to drugs and is then found using them and
beaten up by Fares in a public bathroom.
In a moment of despair, after having lost everything to Ahmed,
Fares hits an elderly pedestrian with his car and then takes him to a
big hospital, checks him in as his own father and pays for his
treatment. Although Fares does not know at first, the old man is in
the habit of throwing himself in front of fancy automobiles so he can
live comfortably for a while in a big hospital. Fares and the old
opportunist find a bond of some kind and eventually become drinking
buddies, replicating in a superficial way the false identities of
father and son, an idea the elderly man had first broached to Fares
while he was checking his "victim" into a hospital.
Soon after they establish the new bond of trust the old man
confesses to Fares with startling honesty his fraudulent practice of
fake victimhood. He recounts his specific encounter with Fares in
detail, and explains how he had sized him up and set out to dupe him.
Fares accepts this with equanimity and they remain friends. In this
moment of candor with the old man, Fares also tells the nurse in
attendance Hoda [Lucy] the story of their contrived relationship,
makes a date to meet her and begins a relationship with her.
There is much freeway footage in and around Cairo by
cinematographer Kamal Abdel Aziz as well as multiple insertions of
original cuts from old Om Kolsum performances to illustrate the
fondness Fares has for her music and sometimes to accentuate points in
the story line with her lyrics.
Cast and crew: Mahmoud Hemida, Mohamed Khan, Aida Riad, Soad Nasr,
Abdel Aziz Makhyoun, Hassan Hosny, Ahmed Bedir, Fayez Ghaly, Kamal
Abdel Aziz, Lucy, Osman Abdel Moneim, Mohamed Metwalli, Atia Oweysi,
Lotfi Labieb, Khaled El Sawy, Mahmoud Al-Lawzi, Abdel Aziz
al-Qarantili, Farid Naguib Sorur
This is a 27" x 39" Egyptian poster designed by Gasour for the 1978
Hassan El-Seify film A Type of Woman based on a story by
Mostafa Moharram, screenplay and dialogue by Ali Salem and starring
Nahed Sherif as Samia. Plot summary: The widow Samia saw a strong
resemblance between Hussein [Sameer Ghanem] and her late husband Hosni
and she therefore became attached to him, while Hussein saw her as a
young and wealthy woman. They married. He got to know Kawsar [Safia
El Emari] because they saw each other everywhere and she was the
couple's only friend. A gang kidnapped Hussein thinking he was their
leader Hosni, although Kawsar knew the difference because she had had
a special relationship with Hosni. Hussein found out about Samia's
first husband, his role as the gang leader and his relationship with
her friend Kawsar.
Cast and crew: Nahed Sherif, Sameer Ghanem, Hassan El-Seify,
Mostafa Moharram, Ali Salem, Safia El Emari, Salah Nazmi, Aly El
Cherif, Ahmed El Haddad, Ahmed Bedir, Mohammad Shawqi, Ahmed Shawqi,
Hossan Iliani, Nadia Shamseddine, Hassan Mostafa Ali
This is a 27" x 39" Lebanese one-sheet poster designed by Gasour for
the 1985 Mohamed Abdel Aziz film Take Care of Your Mind based
on story, screenplay and dialogue by Ahmed Abdel Wahab and starring
Adel Imam as Wael Abdel Halim. Plot summary: Wael Abdel Halim was
studying for a masters degree in psychology while working in a cabaret
at night to meet expenses. In the mornings he would go to a hospital
for field training in mental illness. He met a girl there named Salwa
[Sherihan] who had severe psychological problems; he became
emotionally involved and decided to marry her after she improved under
his care.
Cast and crew: Mohamed Abdel Aziz, Ahmed Abdel Wahab, Naima Al
Soghayar, Umran Bahar, Ahmed Bedir, Aziza Helmy, Sherihan, Galal El
Sharkawy, Fouad Ahmed, Laila Yousra, Sayed Sadeq, Adawi Geith,
Sausan Rabia, Na'im Esa, Shawqi Shamekh, Awatef Takala, Rafet Ragi,
Ahmed Abuabih, Sameh Mojahed, Hussein al-Sherif, Samir Rostam,
Badria Abdel Gawad, Hoda Kamal, Mahmoud Abu Galila, Samia Hatam, Zizi
Farid
Pictured is a 27" x 39" Egyptian poster designed by Hassan Mazhar
Gasour to promote the 1985 95-minute Ahmed Al-Nehas color
film Ruffians [al-awghad] starring Farouk Al-Fichawy based on
story, screenplay and dialogue by Ahmed Al-Nehas with cinematography
by Mohamed Taher. Plot summary: Mahmoud [Farouk Al-Fichawy] is a taxi
driver married to Hosnia [Bussy]. They have a happy life together,
but Mahmoud is accused of hitting a boy named Medhat [Wael Nour] and stealing
20000 pounds from him. Mahmoud goes to see Medhat at the hospital to
persuade him to tell the truth, but he fails. He gets into his taxi
with some of Medhat's friends and the taxi crashes and catches fire in
a remote location while Mahmoud is trying to get confessions from
them. Mahmoud hides in graveyards and disguises himself. He goes to
the hospital to get the names of the boys from Medhat, who dies while
struggling with him. While Mahmoud is chasing one of the offenders,
the offender falls from a balcony before making a confession. A
police inspector named Kamal [Mohi Ismail] chases him as he is
following another collaborator named Mostafa [Abdalla Mahmoud], and catches both of
them. Thus Mostafa had lost the 20000 pounds among strangers and
colluded with his friends in accusing Mahmoud, fearing his father's
punishment.
Cast and crew: Ahmed Al-Nehas, Mohi Ismail, Ahmed Bedir, Abdalla Mahmoud, Ahmad Salama, Wael Nour, Ahmed Khalil, Hafez Amin, Ahmad Hegazi, Bussy, Farouk Al-Fichawi, Awatef Youssef, Youssef Fawzi, Nagwa al-Mawgi, Mona Darwish, Mohamed Taher
Pictured is a 27" x 39" Egyptian poster designed by Hassan Mazhar
Gasour and Anise to promote the 1979 Aly Badrakhan 109-minute color
film Shafiqa and Metwali starring Soad Hosny based on a story by
Shawqi Abdel Hakim with screenplay and dialogue by Salah Jahine and
cinematography by Abdelhalim and Mohsen Nasr. Plot summary: This film
is director Aly Badrakhan's revised and very popular version of the
timeless Egyptian tale of an honor killing in which a prostitute named
Shafiqa [Soad Hosny] is murdered by her brother Metwali [Ahmed Zaki]
for dishonoring his family. The story is set in the 19th Century
during the construction of the Suez Canal [1859-1869] when Metwali is
pressed into forced labor for the project leaving Shafiqa to the
depredations of the lascivious male inhabitants of her village. In
the Badrakhan version Shafiqa is shot by one of her lovers named
Effendia [Gamil Ratib] to prevent her revealing secrets she has
learned about his business dealings, just as the returning Metwali is
about to stab her with his sword. Badrakhan's story, unlike the
original moral drama, does not provide narrative support for the
practice of honor killing. It makes a point of showing that the men
in Shafiqa's life are just as guilty as she is in different ways and
that ethical failings are distributed throughout society.
Cast and crew: Soad Hosny, Ahmed Mazhar, Mahmoud Abdel Aziz, Ahmed Zaki, Aly Badrakhan, Gamil Ratib, Mahmoud El Guindi, Malek Al-Gamal, Hamza al-Shimi, Naima Al-Soghayar, Ahmed Hegazi, Ahmed Bedir, Abdel Waress Assar, Younes Shalaby, Abdelhalim Nasr, Mohsen Nasr, Salah Jahine, Shawqi Abdel Hakim
This is a 27" x 39" Egyptian poster designed by Morteda Anis to
promote the 1985 Ashraf Fahmy film Saad the Orphan [saad
al-yatim] starring Ahmed Zaki based on a story by Yousry Al-Gendy with
screenplay and dialogue by Abdel Hai Adib and cinematography by Mohsen
Nasr. Plot summary: Saad the Orphan [Ahmed Zaki] was in love with
Sabah [Naglaa Fathy], the daughter of a gang leader named Badran
[Mahmoud Moursy]. Another gang leader named al-Halbawy [Farid Shawqi]
also wanted to marry Sabah. This created a conflict for Sabah's
father Badran and a rivaly between al-Halbawy and Saad the Orphan,
although arrangements had been made for Saad the Orphan to marry
Sabah, since this was what Sabah wanted and her father Badran had
agreed to it. There was a fight on the wedding night between
al-Halbawy and Saad the Orphan where Saad the Orphan prevailed. Then
there was another fight the same night where Badran was killed after
Saad the Orphan learned that Badran, his father-in-law, had been the
killer of his father and mother.
Cast and crew: Farid Shawqi, Naglaa Fathy, Ahmed Zaki, Mahmoud Moursy, Tewfik El Dekn, Shouweikar, Karima Mokhtar, Ashraf Fahmy, Ahmed Bedir, Mohamed Wafik, Ahmed Ghanem, Zizi Mustafa, Mohsen Nasr, Ibrahim Abdel Razaq, Yousry Al-Gendy, Abdel Hai Adib
This an original folded 27" x 39" Egyptian movie poster designed by
Raouf for the 1976 Youssef Chahine film Return of the prodigal
son freely adapted from the 1907 André Gide novel, produced in
Egypt and Algeria with screenplay by Salah Jahine and Youssef Chahine
and starring Ali Mahrez as Ali. Plot summary: "Return of the
Prodigal Son is another Chahine parable set between the
Arab-Israeli wars. An activist who's been jailed for more than a
decade, Ali is eagerly awaited by his family. All hope that this just
man will stand up against his ruthless brother's tyranny, but nobody
even recognizes the prodigal when he shows up during a big
party. Prison has so thoroughly crushed Ali's youth and idealism that
he now allies himself with the
oppressor." From the Cornell University Library web site.
The film is a melodrama/musical centering on family strife in the
Madbouli family heightened by the release of the family's youngest son
from prison after serving ten years for construction fraud, who turns
out to be a disappointment when he goes to work at his father's
factory. The family lives on a farm headed by an authoritarian father
[Mahmoud El-Meliguy]. The film has also been seen as an allegorical
treatment of Egypt's poliitical disillusion following the death of
Gamal Abdel Nasser (1918-1970), who had been criticized by some as an
authoritarian leader of a police state, too dependent on the power of
his personal charisma and unable to create intermediary institutions
or adopt practical programs for national development.
Cast and crew: Youssef Chahine, Salah Jahine, Farouk Beloufa,
Raouf, Abdel Aziz Fahmy, Shukry Sarhan, Hoda Soltan, Ayda Reyad,
Mahmoud El-Meliguy, Souheir El-Mourchidy, Ali El Scherif, Ali Mahrez,
Sid Ali Kouiret, Ahmed Abdel Waress, Ragaa Hussein, Ahmed Bedir, Magda
El-Roomy, Hesham Selim, André Gide
This is a 27" x 38.5" Egyptian poster designed by Nagy Shaker to
promote the 2007 126-minute Khaled Youssef color film In Better
Times [heyna maysara] starring Hala Fakher as Om Reda based on
screenplay, story and dialogue by Naser Abdel Rahman and Khaled
Youssef with cinematography by Ramses Marzouk. The film was produced
by the Al-Batros Company for Cinema Production and Distribution. Plot
summary: Om Reda was living in poverty in the Aswa'iya district
awiating the return of her son from Iraq after the Gulf War. Living
with her was her youngest son Adel Hashisha [Amru Saad]. He left his
friend Nahed [Samia al-Khashshab] with his mother to live there while
he served a six-month prison sentence for getting into a fight to
rescue her. After he got out of prison he fell in love with Nahed but
refused to marry her until times got better. Nahed abandoned her son
in an empty seat on a city bus because of the father's refusal to
recognize him. Adel regretted what he had done and tried to get Nahed
back but it was not feasible. He was put in prison again on a charge
contrived against him by the officer who had been giving him guidance
and teaching him about terrorist activities. He then became trustee
of a workshop owner to learn terrorist operations, and he found a
hideout on an estate. Adel was trying to find himself with difficulty
at a time when Nahed was going from house to house falling in love
with the rich people. She tried to go back to Adel again but could not
find him. Their son grew up in a home that had adopted him, but then
the owner of the home threw him out and he took refuge in ad hoc
street shelters. He slept with one of the girls there and they fled to
Alexandria together. There was a fracas at the estate between the
police and Al-Qaeda which ended with the removal of all street
shelters and some of their residents, including Om Reda, Fathy [Amru
Abdel Galil], his wife and others. Adel fled to Alexandria on the
same train Nahed was riding, while his son, his grandson and his wife
were all on the roof of the same train, but none of them knew about
each other. The film closes with a printed text apology read aloud by
director Khaled Youssef: "I apologize to the people if they cannot
understand what they have seen, but in fact I found the reality even
more cruel than what was shown on the screen."
Cast and crew: Khaled Youssef, Amr Abd El-Guelil, Hala Fakher, Somaya El Khashab, Ghada Abdel Razek, Ramses Marzouk, Naser Abdel Rahman, Amru Saad, Ahmed Bedir, Sawsan Badr, Ahmed Said Abdel Ghani, Wafaa Amer, Amru Abdel Galil, Khaled Saleh, Amira Fathy, Abdollah Mosharaf, Sameh Al-Sariti, Mohamed Karim, Sameh Moghawari, Motaz Al-Swifi, Mohammad Farouq
Shown here is a 27" x 39" Egyptian film poster designed by Hassan
Mazhar Gasour and Morteda Anise and printed by Arabic Cinema printers
to promote the 1984 110-minute Hussein El-Wakeel color film The
Curse [al-la'na] starring Nour El-Sherif with screenplay by
Hussein El-Wakeel, dialogue by Salah Gabin and cinematography by
Mostafa Imam, based on the 1963 film Shock Corridor written and
directed by Samuel Fuller. The film was produced by Aflam Eskandaria
and distributed by Ihab al-Leisi films. Plot summary: Chief Editor
Tantawy [Nabil Dessouky] gave the journalist Hamdy [Nour El-Sherif]
the job of investigating the murder of Saluma, an inmate at a mental
hospital. Hamdy gained entrance into the hospital claiming to be
insane, despite the objections of his wife Madiha [Madiha Kamel].
Based on consultations with a psychiatrist he learned how to imitate
the state of a mental patient. At the hospital he found three
witnesses who said the patient Khalil was the one who had killed
Salmuma because she had seen him assault another patient
sexually. Hamdy left the hospital and published his report, but
discovered he had gone insane himself.
Cast and crew: Nour El-Sherif, Samuel Fuller, Madiha Kamel, Hussein El-Wakeel, Mustafa Imam, Gamil Ratib, Ahmed Bedir, Abdel Rahman Abou Zahra, Aly El Cherif, Mohamed Kamel, Mohamed Morshed, Ahmed Abdel Hadi, Mohamed Nouh, Nabil Dessouky, Kamal Hussein
Pictured is a somewhat worn 27" x 39" promotional poster for the 1994
Youssef Chahine 120-minute color film The Emigrant [al-mohager] with
screenplay and dialogue by Youssef Chahine, poster art by Jan and
cinematography by Ramses Marzouk. Plot summary: Ram [Khaled Nabawy]
lived with his old father [Michel Piccoli] in a poor tribe outside
Egypt. Ram suffered from an unhappy dislike of his position as the
favorite of his father's seven sons; he refused to accept that
situation or to live in fear of drought, famine and flood. He dreamed
of being in control of his own life and of his tribe being prosperous.
He decided to go to Egypt to learn agriculture and to make use of
other areas of knowledge found in Egyptian civilization. His brothers
tied him up and threw him into the hold of a ship bound for Egypt,
believing they had gotten rid of him forever, but Ram made it to Egypt
and began learning agriculture. There he discovered the Egyptians were
more interested in the arts and embalming. Ram met Amihar, [Mahmoud
Hemida] the leader of the Egyptian armies. Amihar was impotent
despite his physical strength and was unable to satisfy his wife
Simihit [Youssra] after she fell in love with him. Amihar gave Ram a
plot of land to farm. Ram fell in love with a pretty Egyptian girl
named Haty [Hanan Turk] who said she would marry him. The two of them
joined with an Egyptian minister farming the new land; they
successfully cultivated the plot from Amihar. They divided the crop
to help alleviate the famine that was threatening Egypt and Ram became
a minister in the Pharaoh's government. Nonetheless he longed to
return to his country after disclosing his identity to his seven
brothers; he returned to his tribe with his wife, where he met with
his father after long years of absence. He found his father had gone
blind crying so much in the belief he had died, as his lying brothers
had claimed. This film was banned by religious authorities in Egypt in
1994 and 1995, both times for violating Islamic strictures against
depicting religious prophets--in this case the Prophet Joseph. After
the ban was lifted The Emigrant became Chahine's most popular
film.
Cast and crew: Youssef Chahine, Khaled el Nabaoui, Ahmed Bedir, Safia El Emari, Mahmoud Hemida, Yousef Ismail, Khaled Nabawy, Michel Piccoli, Ahmad Salama, Hanan Turk, Youssra, Ramses Marzouk, Menaha al-Batrawy, Sayed Abdel Karim, Amru Abdel Khalil, Ahmed Fouad Selim, Pierre Sioufi
Plot summary: Yasmin (Menna Shalabi) and Jumana (Hend Sabri) were friends who worked in shops in downtown Cairo. Yasmin worked for a hairdresser and Jumana worked in a dress shop. They both lived in simple social circumstances. One day they met two boys on the metro, Samir (Khaled Abol Naga) who worked as a cook in a hotel and Othman (Mohamed Nagati) who worked at a telephone company. The relationship developed slowly. At first, in one of several incidents in which she told lies, Yasmin told the boys her name was Jumana and her friend's name was Yasmin, but the relationship continued and the boys thought they could get the girls easily. Samir introduced his girl (Yasmin) to his father and the father was comfortable with this relationship, but Jumana did not like Othman's narrow-mindedness and told him she did not want to get married. The friendship continued between the two girls even though Yasmin married Samir and had a son with him. The film's title song is performed by Riko as an event at a recording studio.
Cast: Khaled Abol Naga, Hend Sabri, Menna Shalabi, Mohamed Nagati, Ahmed Bedir, Manal Afifi, Ahmed Rateb, Kamal Abdel Aziz, Magda El-Khatib, Riko, directed by Mohamed Khan, written by Wassam Soliman
Fares of the City [fares al-medina] (1992) - (Mahmoud Hemida) Egyptian film poster
Plot Summary: This film by director Mohamed Khan is set in Cairo in the year 1988. The filming was done in 32 days beginning 26 May 1990. It narrates a complex tale about the life of Fares (Mahmoud Hemida) who is a prosperous and somewhat conniving mid-level businessman dealing in currency, automobiles and real estate. His wealth comes from currency trading and the running of a number of large commercial projects. The main line of this multi-threaded plot is a conflict between Fares and another slightly more properous businessman and drug merchant Ahmed Al-Wezzan (Abdel Aziz Makhyoun). As the film begins Fares worries how he will raise the five million pounds he needs to pay a debt to Ahmed and he ends up selling everything to manage it, but in the end it is Fares who triumphs in a series of tense and sometimes violent encounters.
When the story begins Fares is quarrelling with his wife Dalal (Soad Nasr) about their son (Abdel Aziz al-Qarantili). He had separated from Dalal to live with her son Bakr (Farid Naguib Sorur), a university student, and with his new lover. This is the beginning of another plot line in which the son is kidnapped by Ahmed's gang, disappears, eventually becomes addicted to drugs and is then found using them and beaten up by Fares in a public bathroom.
In a moment of despair, after having lost everything to Ahmed Fares hits an ederly pedestrian with his car and then takes him to a big hospital to treat him at his own expense. Although Fares does not know this at first, this old man makes a habit of throwing himself in front of fancy automobiles so he can live comfortably for a while in a big hospital. Fares and the old opportunist find a bond of some kind and eventually become drinking buddies, replicating in a superfical way the false identities of father and son, an idea the elderly man had first broached to Fares while he was checking his "victim" into a hospital.
Soon after they establish this new bond of trust the old man confesses to Fares with startling honesty his habitual strategy of becoming a fake victim in traffic accidents to get periods of free hospital room and board for himself. He recounts his specific encounter with Fares in detail, and explains how he had sized him up and intentionaly set out to dupe him. Fares accepts this with equanimity and they remain friends. In this moment of candor with the old man, Fares also tells the nurse in attendance Hoda (Lucy) the story of their contrived relationship, makes a date to meet her and begins a relationship with her.
This film is full of freeway footage in and around Cairo by cinematographer Kamal Abdel Aziz, with frequent insertion of original cuts from old Om Kolsum performances to illustrate the fondness Fares has for her music and sometimes to accentuate points in the story line with her lyrics.
The film's performers are Mahmoud Hemida, Aida Riad, Soad Nasr, Abdel Aziz Makhyoun, Hassan Hosny, Ahmed Bedir, Lucy, Osman Abdel Moneim, Mohamed Metwalli, Atia Oweysi, Lotfi Labieb, Khaled El Sawy, Mahmoud Al-Lawzi, Abdel Aziz al-Qarantili and Farid Naguib Sorur.
