Le destin

Egyptian director Youssef Chahine biopic of Arab philosopher Averroes (who lived in Andalusia during the 1100s) is surprisingly compelling, with fine production values, including a lavish color cinematography (this was a co production with France that won awards at the Cannes film festival in 1997). Averroes (played by Nour el Sheriff) is seen in the movie, avant la lettre, as a wise champion of rationality and against fundamentalism. Aside having to fight the intrigue of fundamentalists, he has to do some optical experiments and also has to deal with family problems, a misguided caliph, and Christian troops eager to attack Andalusia. The movie also includes ridiculous but charming musical interludes reminiscent of Indian movies.

The movie is simply great. So beautiful, so entertaining, so well-made. As beautiful as I had expected from yousef shaheen, the director, as a leader of the modern Egyptian movie making. The ideal declared by the film is a throbbing hot one. Liberal thought and freedom from all pre-made and superimposed thought is a subject that I never saw treated in such an open manner, especially in a conservative society like the Egyptian one. The Camera playing, the lighting modules, the music, the positioning of the right song in the right situation are all points that count on the director's side. The scene where the Khaleefa says: "I'm the Andalus" with him being zoomed out to appear dotted in the centre of the screen, is one scene that I don't think will forget. The actors choice was also very successful. If you have never seen an Egyptian film before, this is a good one to start with.

Destiny (1997) is an Egyptian film co-written and directed by Youssef Chahine. It stars Nour El-Sherif as Averroes, a famous Muslim philosopher in the 12th Century.

The movie has one of the grimmest beginnings I've ever seen. It never gets quite that grim again, but the first few minutes are hard to sit through.

After that, the story is interesting, if hard to understand. The philosopher Averroes was a historical figure. He sometimes lived in North Africa, and sometimes in Andalusia. (Nour El-Sherif is an excellent actor, and he makes us believe in Averroes as a real human being, and not just as a philosopher on a pedestal.)

Averroes translated the works of Aristotle into Arabic, and then he wrote commentaries about them. It's possible that these works would have been lost if Averroes had not undertaken this immense intellectual task.

The basic plot of the story circles around the interaction of Averroes with the Caliph, and the Caliph's brother and sons. I have to admit that I got the sense of who was doing what to whom, but I couldn't always understand the details.

This movie is worth seeing because it's colorful, well-acted, and shows us events about which many of us know very little. It has a solid IMDb rating of 7.3, and I recommend it. It will work better on the large screen.

We were able to see it at Rochester's wonderful Dryden Theatre where it was shown--free--as part of a series entitled Salam. The series is being presented to commemorate the lives of the victims of the atrocities at the Al Noor Mosque and the Linwood Islamic Centre in New Zealand, and in solidarity with Muslim people.

The series was organized by the Eastman Museum in partnership with the Islamic Center of Rochester. I commend both institutions for using artistic works to combat and decry hatred.

A film which will probably find many emphatic spectators due to its many facettes: * You might like historic films - this one shows you live of Andalusia in the 12th century with rich costumes and great islamic buildings; * you might prefer deep content - this film offers insight in the philosophy of the great muslem thinker Averroes (Ibn-Rushed) and the question why people get seducted by sects; * you might be interested in action, love and happy-end - this film offers as a story the conspiracy against the caliph, and happily ends with two couples that found each other (though very sensitively shown, compared to occidental films); * you might generally be interested how other cultures do films - this is a great example of oriental (Egyptian) cinema, which is close enough to be understood be occidental people; * you might like to follow personal development of the characters shown in the film - this one gives you insight in the development of the caliph's two sons: from "take all easy" to "use your own head to think". *** This film can be highly recommended !!! ***

Ocidentals tend to see other cultures as exotic and bizarre. This is a lesson about Europe and Muslims, about Mourish culture in Iberia and about religious extremism and freedom of thinking. I loved it. My country would be much more poor if it had not been included in Mourish Iberia in a time when christians were in the dark age. The music is fabulous. I'm very curious about other works from Youssef Chahine but unfortunally i don't believe they will ever be in Portuguese cinemas.