There's something special in seeing ancient Egypt as imagined by an Egyptian instead of a director from the West, especially when it's Youssef Chahine. To great controversy he tells the story of Joseph from the Torah/Bible/Qur'an, "the righteous one" betrayed by his brothers and sold into slavery in Egypt. Chahine alters the story to include a couple of love triangles, as well as a triangle of another sort between the Gods, with the adherents of Amun and Atun clashing while Joseph calmly espouses his monotheistic view. He also gives a very modern sense of one of the aspects of being an immigrant in that Joseph is made to feel more than once that he's not a "real Egyptian" despite having toiled there for years.
The visuals in this film are a real highlight, like when the action is out in the desert, or when rituals are being performed, or the scene when giant statues are being pulled down, the last of which is maybe the fate of everything that is once put on a pedestal. The leading women (Yousref and Hanan Tork) give the film a spark and more than keep up with Khaled el-Nabawy as Joseph/Ram. What held me back from the truly loving the film, however, was the storytelling, which I thought was sometimes muddled, especially in its middle. Certainly worth seeing though, especially if you're in the mood for a variation on a religious epic.
