An exploration of Youssef Chahine's invaluable cinematic legacy

Consequently, the Arab world failed to keep pace with the American literary and cultural scene, and (already lagging) Arab critics were late to discover American literature treasures.

However, if social media platforms and recent publication projects are anything to go by, it seems that the younger generations have rid themselves of these past ideological burdens.

Artists' legacies unfairly dismissed

The popularity of Arab cultural figures like Youssef Chahine was largely confined to their lifetimes. Once departed, the appreciation for their legacy often faded.

Worse, their legacy would be dismissed or even criticised as a representation of times past that should be left behind along with their intellectual figures.

This is evident, for instance, in how the poetry of Nizar Qabbani, Mahmoud Darwish, and Muhammad al-Maghout, and the films of Salah Abu Seif, Youssef Chahine, and Maroun Bagdadi, were regarded following their deaths.

Adding insult to injury, attempts to retain and preserve cultural assets are often inconsistent and hampered by the constant turmoil in the Arab world.

Global efforts to preserve national heritage

Elsewhere in the world, the works of renowned filmmakers are diligently repaired and presented to the audience according to the latest technological screening requirements, as happened with the films of Federico Fellini, De Sica, Antonioni, Kurosawa, Ozu, Godard, and Truffaut amongst many others.

Most of these movies are regarded as cultural heritage, which makes their preservation a national duty.

The same is true for literature. Countless critical studies and abridged or full versions of literary works by celebrated authors who departed from this world long ago are still published every year.  

Because Chahine's films were politically stereotyped, his distinctive cinematic artistry was often disregarded. Not long after his death, Chahine's cinematic wealth had already been forgotten – or ignored, to say the least – given the end of his direct influence.

His legacy was treated as if it had served its purpose and now belonged in the annals of history, just like the legacies of many other Arab and Egyptian intellectual figures before him.

An avid cinema lover

People often forget that Chahine was — first and foremost — an avid cinema lover. This passion led him all the way to Pasadena, to study Hollywood's cinematography and learn how the American film industry crafted its masterpieces with professionalism, aesthetics, imagination, and grandeur.

Hollywood continued to inspire Chahine's films throughout his career. In his films, the Hollywood effect was neither superficial nor sporadic: it was at the heart of his filmmaking approach, moulding his distinctive cinematic style on the international and Arab levels.

At 23, Chahine launched his career with "Baba Amin" (1950), which he wrote and directed. Though he never said it explicitly, it was clear that Chahine drew inspiration for the film from Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946).

The movie illustrated Chahine's talent for adaptation, particularly in his conversion of Charles Dickens's "A Christmas Carol" to a story set in a popular Egyptian neighbourhood during Ramadan.

"Baba Amin" was also a testament to Chahine's brilliant application of cinematic innovations, whether in techniques (such as the double-casting of actor Hussein Riad) or content (such as the depiction of life after death).

More important, it was "Baba Amin" that gave us the incredible chance of watching Faten Hamama sing and dance with Mahmoud Reda.

A talent for fantasy and musicals

Chahine would once again employ fantasy and the realm of the unfamiliar in his second work, "The Great Clown" (1952).

In this film, Faten Hamama's role seemed like a prelude to the character of "Hannuma", which Hind Rustom would play in Chahine's subsequent "Cairo Station" (1958). Also, like Hussein Riad in "Baba Amin", Youssef Wahbi took on a comedic role in a stark departure from the characters he usually portrayed.

In a fantasy setting no less impressive than the world of "Baba Amin", Chahine used kitchen utensils as percussion instruments in the song "Arees al Hanem," along with a visual choreographic element that underscored the fantasy dimension of the film.

It is easy to see that Chahine was influenced by the distinctive choreography in Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen's famous Hollywood pieces like "An American in Paris" or "Singin' in the Rain".

Chahine's passion for the Kelly-Donen musical comedies was perhaps what motivated him to make "Farewell to Your Love" (1956) and "You Are My Love" (1957), both of which starred the popular Syrian-Egyptian composer and singer Farid al-Atrash.

To date, it is still unknown whether Chahine made "Farewell to Your Love" by direct order of the Egyptian military command as part of the latter's control over all art productions following the Free Officers coup in 1952, or whether he and al-Atrash made the movie voluntarily to flatter Gamal Abdel Naser, the leader of the new Egyptian republic.

Chahine would once again use Hollywood's impressive techniques in his 1963 historical movie "Saladin the Victorious". 

The film had a huge production budget, with grand battle scenes and many stuntmen. The Hollywood effect was also clear in the simple and direct storyline.

In his autobiographical film series ("Alexandria… Why?", "An Egyptian Tale", "Alexandria Again and Forever", and "Alexandria-New York"), Chahine did not shy away from expressing his deep admiration for Hollywood.

This was displayed in some of the scenes in which the filmmaker himself partook in the choreography, which harks back to Gene Kelly's famous musicals.

Acting roles

In other, perhaps less obvious expressions of his obsession with Hollywood, Chahine took on acting roles in some of his movies, such as "Cairo Station" (1958), which was nearly nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Film.

Chahine would also go on to appear as an actor (in the role of a film director) in "Ismael Yassin in the Air Force" (1959) by the master of Egyptian comedies Fateen Abdulwahab.

The famous actor Izzat al-Alayli would later say that Youssef Chahine was supposed to star in "The Choice" (1970) while Al-Alayli was supposed to direct it, not the other way around.

Hollywood inspiration

For years, Chahine worked hard to craft his own cinematic style through unique storytelling, dynamism, scene breaks, and camera angles.

His style had started to take shape even in his earlier films, like "Baba Amin", "Son of the Nile", "The Great Clown", and "You Are My Love", which starred some of Egypt's most prominent actors and actresses like Kamal el-Shennawi, Farid Shawqi, Faten Hamama, Shadia, and Farid al-Atrash.

Hollywood's influence on Chahine's work and cinematographic language was also evident in other, less obvious elements of his cinematic style.

Drawing from 1940s and 1950s Hollywood, especially the comedies, romances, and musicals released in those two decades, Chahine's characters often used semi-comic, dynamic movements, even in the way they carried their conversations.

Hollywood had resorted to that style to rid itself of the heavy, melodramatic theatrical legacy of the past decades, despite having been employed in some of the most prominent comedy productions, such as those by Charlie Chaplain and Buster Keaton.

In line with this evolution, Chahine had Farid al-Atrash move and talk in ways entirely opposite to his conventional style. This is clear, for instance, in the "grandiose" opening scene of "You Are My Love" and many other scenes that brought together al-Atrash and prominent actresses like Shadia and Hind Rustum.

The train scene in Chahine's "Cairo Station" was perhaps one of the liveliest and most dynamic scenes of the time, not only in the Arab world but also globally.

There was Hannuma (Hind Rustum), selling Coca-Cola while dancing on the train to the tunes of upbeat American songs. Then there she was again, dancing this time with Qannawi (Youssef Chahine), standing outside the locomotive.

Chahine would perhaps not have envisioned and produced such a scene if he weren't a passionate follower of Hollywood's musicals that were released during that era and before it.

However, Chahine's ingenuity was demonstrated by his ability to adapt Western styles to resonate with Egyptian taste. His works never came across as cheap knock-offs or awkward imitations of Western cinema.

The rich, diverse, and open-minded cultural scene of Egypt at that time also helped Chahine utilise that influence well and transform it into genuine local cinematic productions, unlike modern Egyptian and Arab films that seem to be nothing more than replicas of Hollywood films and devoid of any originality.    

A visual celebration of life

Chahine tackled a myriad of themes in his films.

He took on political themes like feudalism in "The Land" (1970), British colonialism in "Alexandria… Why?" (1978), the Israeli victory over Egypt in the 1967 Six-Day War in "The Bird" (1974) and "The Return of the Prodigal Son" (1976), and Bonaparte's Egyptian campaign in "Adieu Bonaparte" (1995).

Other films like "The Emigrant" (1994), "Destiny" (1997), and "The Other" (1999) tackled globalisation.

His earlier films focused on social issues, such as "The Blazing Sun" (1954), "Dark Waters" (1956), and "Cairo Station" (1958).

Yet no matter their theme, all of Chahine's films were a visual celebration of life. His actors and actresses always seemed to move with vim and vigour.

Dancing and singing were a staple of his movies, even in their most tragic moments, as evident in the final scene of "The Return of the Prodigal Son".

At times, Chahine also employed music as a dramatic tool, such as in "The Sixth Day", when Mohamed Mounir performs "After the Flood" and Mohsen Mohieddin sings "The Tale of Our Neighbourhood".  

In the opening scene of that movie, the filmmaker dedicated the film to Gene Kelly, whom he said "filled our youth with joy and purity".

Interestingly, Chahine filmed his only full musical, "The Seller of Rings" (1965) in Lebanon, and not in Egypt. Despite Chahine's clear traces, the movie, which starred the famous Lebanese singer Fairuz, remained etched in the collective memory as a work of the Rahbani brothers, who had directed most of Fairuz's work.

Throughout his six decades working in the cinema industry, Youssef Chahine was always a director of his time, whose works reflected the political, social, cultural, and intellectual events of his era.

Naturally, he was more a man of the people (the audience and the art community in general) than a mouthpiece for political or ideological projects. Perhaps this is best illustrated in his harsh evaluation of the Nasserite era and the ensuing defeat in "The Return of the Prodigal Son" and "The Choice".

Chahine's most notable achievement might be his autobiographical trilogy (a fourth movie was added later). Some accused him of being highly influenced by other cinematic productions, (as if influence erases originality), but that film series remains one of the most daring and revealing cinematic experiences in the Arab world (and maybe even an attempt at self-defence).

That series uncovered the sources of inspiration that guided Youssef Chahine throughout his career, which was driven from start to finish by an undying passion for cinema as a representation of life with all its marvel, beauty, simplicity, and complexity, rather than a means for political propaganda or ideological indoctrination.