several wars
by
Douglas Messerli
Youssef
Chahine and Lotfi Al Khouli (screenplay), Youssef Chahine (director) العصفور (Al-Asour) (The Sparrow) /1972
Youssef
Chahine’s Al-Asour (The Sparrow) is perhaps one of his most
overlooked films—certainly by English-language viewers. There are several
reasons for this. The film, first of all, is focused on the government of
Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser, at a time in 1967 where Egypt and other Arab forces
suffered a humiliating defeat in the Six-Day War, and, at the same moment,
Nasser’s government was found to have been involved with crime lords who in
Upper Egypt stole the stock and construction parts which were to have built a
new factory that might have hired thousands of poor workers. 
Indeed
the first part of this film is devoted to the search by one of two brothers for
the outlaw Abu Khadr, who has purportedly been involved in the robbery. Yet the
film ends with the other brother’s letters and presumed death in the Six-Day
War, after having returned, with the elder brother, to Cairo to center its last
moments on their mother, Bahiya (Mohsena Tawfik), who is the subject of a
nationally-recognized song (sung several times throughout the film) devoted to
her by her once-imprisoned former husband.
Into this mix Chahine embeds stores of
Mahmoud El-Meliguy, determined by vengeance to kill Abu Khadr, and young boy,
just as determined to get to Cairo in order to obtain help for his ailing older
brother. Another central figure is a journalist, also trying to get to Abu
Khadr in order to report the truth of his actions, presumably connecting him to
Nassar’s government. Eventually, these major figures all interlink and become
something close to friends back in the capitol, despite all of their differing
motivations.
If the story is almost impossibly complex
in its embrace of national history, Chahine’s directorial method is one of
quick, fragmented cuts as he shifts back and forth between the various
narratives. At times, the dialogue is so rushed that it is hard for an English-language
reader to simply keep up with the subtitles. Everything happens quickly and,
often, confusedly, creating almost a jumble of plot possibilities.
On top of all of this, when the film was
first made in 1972, it was banned for two years because of its revelations
about the connections of Nassar’s government to murder, theft, and corruption.
Nassar’s resignation brought thousands of people to the streets, calling for
him to return to government, but Chahine, more interested in the reasons for
the crisis, spends very little time on what was later called the 1973
“victory,” using Bahiya as the major figure demanding Nassar’s return to power.
Perhaps The Sparrow is best seen after reading up on Egyptian history,* and
might even be better if watched several times (you can now do so on
Filmstruck). Certainly it is a film of enough depth and complexity, as well as
being one of Chahine’s most sophisticated works, to receive more international
attention. Here the great director transforms his often personalized visions of
Egyptian culture and family life into a vast landscape that attempts to embrace
all of those “little sparrows” suffering and trying to survive in a number of
different ways.
Chahine has always been a genius in his
ability to convey a broad landscape, but it is generally through the lens of
one or two characters, or focused on more singular backdrops (as in his Cairo Station). Here, the scope is
almost epic, and to understand that the viewer needs the knowledge of what that
broader picture represents.
Los Angeles,
April 27, 2017
Reprinted
from World Cinema Review (April
2017).
*A
good essay on the historical meanings of this film is available here:
http://www.madamasr.com/en/2014/08/30/feature/culture/egypts-cinematic-gems-the-sparrow/
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