Cairo Station
باب الحديد
Egypt • 1958
Director
#1273Criterion Collection →Synopsis
Youssef Chahine established his international reputation with this masterpiece, which, though initially a commercial failure in Egypt, would become one of the most influential and celebrated works in all of Arab cinema. The director himself stars as Kenawi, a disabled newspaper hawker whose obsession with a sultry drink seller (Hind Rostom, known as the “Marilyn Monroe of Arabia”) leads to tragedy of operatic proportions on the streets of Cairo. Blending elements of neorealism with provocative noir-melodrama, CAIRO STATION is a work of raw populist poetry that explores the individual’s search for a place in Egypt’s new postrevolutionary political order.
Synopsis
Youssef Chahine established his international reputation with this masterpiece, which, though initially a commercial failure in Egypt, would become one of the most influential and celebrated works in all of Arab cinema. The director himself stars as Kenawi, a disabled newspaper hawker whose obsession with a sultry drink seller (Hind Rostom, known as the “Marilyn Monroe of Arabia”) leads to tragedy of operatic proportions on the streets of Cairo. Blending elements of neorealism with provocative noir-melodrama, CAIRO STATION is a work of raw populist poetry that explores the individual’s search for a place in Egypt’s new postrevolutionary political order.
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(1)
Credits
Crew
DirectorYoussef Chahine
WriterAbdel Hai Adib
CinematographerAlevise Orfanelli
ComposerFouad El-Zahry
EditorKamal Abul Ela
ProducerGabriel Talhami