Le destin

"The Ideas have Wings, you can never stop them from reaching the people".

That was Al Massir, or the Destiny of Youssef Chahine. After his previous movie "El Mohager", Chahine was taken to court by a fundamentalist lawyer who claimed that Chahine presented the prophet Joseph in this movie and this is something forbidden "To show prophets on the screen" by Al Azhar. The lawyer wanted the court to stop showing the movie on the Egyptian screens as well as its distribution outside Egypt.

Regardless of the final conclusion of the court, this case was the major motive behind the script of "Al Massir". Jo (Chahine) wanted to send a clear message to this people "You can never stop ideas from reaching the people, neither by burning the books (last scene of the movie), nor by forbidding movies, etc....' As usual, Averoes in this movie was Chahine himself. Trying to keep a good balance between what the history says about Averoes and what Chahine wanted to reflect on this character, he chose his characters to include all the contradictions he wanted to show. Politics, philosophy, love, integrism, etc.... they are everywhere. This idea of combining Islam with Terrorism bothers Chahine, that is why he started the movie with the french religious authorities burning a man who "Translated the books of this Averoes", so don't you be surprised when Muslims burn "Only" the books of Averoes. This analysis of Chahine is what really makes the movie special. It was expected after what happened to him in his last movie (as I said in the beginning), he could have just make it a good reason for a movie showing Muslims as Terrorists, an easy way to attract a Western spectator. But Jo chose the hard way to do it, showing that among all this terrorism, people are still "Life lovers" as mentioned by the first song. These people who just love their life were those fighting against terrorist - not with weapons - but with love. "We have to know first why they are doing this', said Averoes. Actors were really good specially Nour Elsherif, Mahmoud Hemeida, Khaled Elnabawi and Ahmed Fouad Selim. Mohamed Mounir is as usual the voice of Chahine singing "Sing out loud, we still can sing".

This Egyptian, French production is really my favourite film. It just touches you. The way a modern theme, fundementalism is placed in a 14th century setting without losing any of the sharp edges involving the subject. If you're in to political engaged movies, watch this one. If you're in to musicals, watch this one. If you're in to historical movies, watch this one. If you're in to Arab movies, watch this one. It just keeps your attention throughout the entire movie. It's a happy movie but yet has a heavy tone. And, God I like them Tambourines!

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 !!! ***

Mr. Chahine is masterful and downright crafty in pushing forward his message for cosmopolitan rationality vs. parochial fanaticism: Starting from a telegraphed overview of historical events, ideological currents and characters from the two-century period (XI-XII) in Andalusia that saw a wave of North-African fundamentalist mercenary Berbers wrestle power away from the weakened remnants of the enlightened Umayyad dynasty, he made a deceivingly simple parable using old-time Hollywood formats and entertainment values à la `Thief of Baghdad.' Chahine is thus successfully addressing matters of dense philosophical and political import under the guise of an almost infantile entertainment. The plot, furthermore, echoes `Fahrenheit 451' and its overall ideological stance is reminiscent of ‘A Man for All Seasons.' On the other hand, seeing its `musical' values as a bow to Hollywood is merely scratching at the surface, since it must be kept in mind that poetry in song – the obsessive discipline of enlightened Islam – was the most efficient vehicle for the birth and expansion of all values appropriated by Christian Western (read, European) civilization. Hence, the formal solution signifies much more than the surface. On the other hand, Chahine ties the past quite neatly -- through his storytelling and filmmaking craft -- with current world events and thought convolutions. For example, the stabbing of the bard character in Destiny couldn't be less than a painful fictionalization of the fundamentalist attack on the contemporary Egyptian novelist Mafouz. El Massir is an important piece of work, and I think everyone who is at all concerned or curious about the nature of the global forces at work today should take a long and detained look at it. This film carries a hefty punch and – what's best -- you can barely feel it, as the masterful handling of the narrative, in terms of nothing but an entertaining parable, lets the dense message flow without any pretensions of `avant-garde' stylist truculence. M

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.