In The Land Chahine focuses his lens on the plight of the peasants in a small village exploited by a powerful local landowner, at a time that Britain and the corrupt Egyptian monarchy still run the country. As sympathetic as his portrayal might be of the poor, Chahine is not an idealistic dreamer, and, much like Kurosawa and Bunuel, shows there are also negative characters and selfish motives among the oppressed. The Land is considered by many critics to be Chahine’s finest film, certainly one which mirrors many of his views of his native country. —Austin Film Society
Youssef Chahine (born in Alexandria, Egypt, 1926) started studying in a friars’ school, and then turned to English College until the High School Certificate. After one year in the University of Alexandria, he moved to the U.S. and spent two years at the Pasadena Play House, taking courses on film and dramatic arts. After coming back to Egypt, cinematographer Alevise Orfanelli helped him into the film business. His film debut was Baba Amin (1950): one year later, with Ibn el Nil (1951) he was first invited to the Cannes Film festival. In 1970, he was awarded a Golden Tanit at the Carthage Festival. With Le moineau (1973), he directed the first Egypt-Algeria co-production. He won a Silver Bear in Berlin for Iskanderija… lih? (1978), the first installment in what proved to be an autobiographic trilogy, completed with adduta misrija (1982) and Iskanderija, kaman oue kaman (1990).
In 1992, Jacques Lassalle proposed him to stage a piece of his choice for Comédie Française… read more
