Al-massir (1997)

Director:

Youssef Chahine

Writers:

Youssef Chahine (writer)
Khaled Youssef (writer)

Release Date:

16 October 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | History | Musical | Romance

Plot:

The story is set in the 12th century in Arab-ruled Spanish province Andalusia, where famed philosopher...

Plot Keywords:

Sect | Book Burning | Singer | Freedom | Reason

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Nour El-Sherif	...	Averroes (as Nour El Cherif)
Laila Eloui	...	Manuella
Mahmoud Hemida	...	Al Mansour, The Caliph (as Mahmoud Hemeida)
Safia El Emari	...	Averroes' Wife (as Safia El Emary)
Mohamed Mounir	...	The Bard
Khaled Nabawy	...	Nasser, The Crown Prince (as Khaled El Nabaoui)
Seif El Dine	...	The Caliph's Brother (as Seif Abdel Rahman)
Abdalla Mahmoud	...	Borhan
Ahmed Fouad Selim	...	Cheikh Riad
Magdi Idris	...	Emir of the Sect
Ahmed Moukhtar	...	Bard
Sherifa Maher	...	Manuella's Mother
Rayek Azzab	...	El Razi
Hassan El Adl	...	Gaafar
Hani Salama	...	Abdalla

Also Known As:

Destiny (USA)
El maseer (alternative transliteration)
Le destin (France)

Runtime:

135 min

Country:

France | Egypt

Language:

French | Arabic

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Finland:K-12 | Portugal:M/12

Filming Locations:

Carcassonne, Aude, France

Company:

France 2 Cinéma

Quotes:

Caliph's brother: Thoughts have wings. No one can prevent them from flying.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Humbert Balsan, producteur rebelle (2006) (TV)

Brave, exuberant filmmaking

Americans and Europeans should treat themselves to the courageous joy of this infectious film, if you can find it. If you're looking for Latcho Drom with a great story, this is it!

Destiny is singularly beautiful in that it celebrates humanist passions and ideas as they were once allowed to be expressed in the Islamic culture of 12th century Spain. The Egyptian director Youssef Chahine ventures this anti-fundamentalist statement in a contemporary cultural climate where fundamentalism is on the rise. It exposes the street fascism and subtle eroticism that seduces young men into such sects.

Destiny is exuberant. It has humor, music, dancing, free thinking dialogue, intriguing sets and architecture and, most of all, the ensemble portrayal of a joyful philosophic community whose members you can really grow to love. All the earthly things fundamentalists detest!

Chahine deserves a larger world audience, by virtue of his bravery and outspoken-ness. He argues at risk of his own life in this film. If Akira Kurosawa could be embraced so wholeheartedly by the international community, so should Chahine. This film is a landmark. I hope financing from our part of the world will find its way to him. He has guts and passion.

The film itself is like nothing else you will see made on these shores. It is emotionally unabashed. Our western ideals of coolness and hipness restrict many of our directors and actors. Passion is too often reserved for climactic moments, and commonly those moments are angry intimidation or vengeance scenes sparked by the Pacino clones of the world. Much of the actor's job is running and posing. In Destiny, the actors are not posing - they are joyfully uninhibited and alive!

Recommended highly!! Vigorous entertainment. Brave ideas. Exotic sets. Bold, hand-hewn directorial craftsmanship. Great true story. And your only chance to see 12th century Andalusian culture come alive!