It seems that Netflix is on a winner with its batch of Chahine films. My recent post on this site with some comments about most of the films now available has had a surprisingly but gratifyingly high number of hits. There have been other posts on other sites responding to this new treasure trove, along with more extensive responses, such as this from JoséArroyo and Richard Layne discussing the first film, The Blazing Sun (Struggle in the Valley) (click here to go to the page) They plan to continue these discussions through all the films available in chronological order, and already have done the next two (Dark Waters, Cairo Station.)
The key word there is “available”. Not all films are available in all territories. USA has 12 titles, Australia has eleven. The other film not available in Australia is …um…The Other. From 1999, this is one of his last films. It was released on DVD in USA. My memories of it need refreshing before I make definitive comments. But the blurb on the DVD case below indicates a film with confidence in its director’s filmmaking, prepared to be extravagant but with still with a strong social conviction.
The Other is a delirious love story between Adam, the son of a corrupt, domineering female industrialist, and Hanane, a beautiful but impoverished newspaper reporter. … Among the passionate embraces, extravagant musical numbers and a stirring vision of a harmonious, multi-cultural Middle East, Chahine unravels the connection s among naked greed, corrupt power, Western ‘globalization’ and religious fanaticism.
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