Al Mohager
Egypt / France,
1994, 128 min
Shown in 1995
CREDITS
- dir
-
Youssef Chahine
- prod
-
Gabriel Khoury, Humbert Balsam
- scr
-
Youssef Chahine
- cam
-
Ramsis Marzouk
- editor
-
Rachida Abdel Salam
- cast
-
Yousra, Mohamoud Hemeida, Michel Piccoli, Khaled El Nabawi, Safia El Emary
- source
-
Pyramide
- premiere
-
North American Premiere
-
COMMENTS
OTHER
The Biblical tale of Joseph, son of Jacob, gets retold with an unusual (for Western audiences) perspective in The Emigrant: there’s no Judeo-Christian message and the point of view is definitely Egyptian. The young and idealistic Ram (a.k.a. Joseph) chafes at the restraints of his poverty-stricken nomadic life and suffers under the taunts and bullying of his elder brothers. He dreams of going to Egypt (at that time—under the pharoahs—the center of civilization) to educate himself. Despite his father’s doubts, his brothers’ emnity, and against all odds, he reaches his goal. But the trials in store for him there are even greater than those he left behind. He gets enmeshed in enough sexual and political subplots to seriously threaten his chances of success—and even survival. There’s a charm and conviction to the film residing perhaps in Youssef Chahine’s longstanding belief that “the individual, living in the worst possible conditions, can overcome the worst difficulties by strength of character.” In his politically committed career, Chahine has used elements of documentary, melodrama, film noir and social realism to investigate his country’s history. Here he turns to a more intimate, emotional story, but one that once again proclaims the value of the struggle.
FACTOID #304
After its U.S. premiere at the 1969 Festival, the print of Z by Costa-Gavras was stolen from the locked projection room of the Masonic Auditorium.
