Cinema
The Will
العزيمة
Kamal Selim · 1939
Synopsis
In a working-class alley of Cairo, Mohamed, a poor and honest young man, marries Fatma, whom he loves. Facing him stands Adly, the rich and dissolute son of a pasha, according to Al Jazeera. A minor fault costs Mohamed his job, and he takes a humbler one and hides his fall; neighbours set about revealing it, and his new employer threatens his marriage. The whole alley, with its shops and its rumours, surrounds the couple.
Context
The film was released on 6 November 1939. Studio Misr at first rejected the project, titled “La Ruelle”; it was accepted under a new title, on condition that Selim direct five other films without a fee. The sets recreate the working-class neighbourhood, and Salah Abou Seif was an assistant. Mohammad Al Sayyid Shusha regards it as the first Egyptian realist film; Al Jazeera qualifies this, seeing an idealised alley united against evil. Critics have voted it the best Egyptian film of all time.
Who it is for
A feature film in Arabic, in black and white, of about one hundred and ten minutes, shot in working-class neighbourhood settings.
Prizes and reception
Placed at the top of the rankings of Egyptian cinema, and regarded as one of the precursors of neorealism.
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