The Land (Chahine, 1969): BFI Southbank, NFT1, 6pm
This is a 35mm screening and is part of the Youssef Chahine season at BFI Southbank.
BFI introduction:
The
Land is among Chahine’s most rewarding films, playing to his strengths
as a filmmaker. This rural epic takes place in an Egyptian village in
the early 1930s, a time when Egypt was theoretically independent but
still entangled with serving British interests. The inciting incident is
the news that the already overstretched farmers will have the water
supply for their crops halved – a move that will destroy their
livelihoods and their community. Placing their trust in the wrong people
to help them, the community finds themselves under further threat from
corruption and urbanisation. Chahine’s
film has extraordinary complexity, both in depicting the huge number of
competing influences on Egyptian society and the way the social
dynamics play out between each character, with each relationship fully
realised. Chahine is able to inspire, by showing the villagers standing
side by side, but also admits that political oppression will not always
unite the dispossessed. With wonderful performances from Hamdy Ahmed,
Mahmoud Al Meleji, Ezzat El Alaili and Nagwa Ibrahim, each character is
fascinating but flawed. Chahine affords these rural citizens the full
focus and dignity of humanity.
Here (and above) is an extract.
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