Iskanderija... lih?

The movie is scattered in its priorities which results in the plotlines it utilizes being underbaked. In terms of visual flair, it's also boring despite Chahine being behind the camera. However, I think what I appreciate about this film is the way it captures a general sentiment of its time even if a lot of that isn't capitalized on too well. Though there's a lot of interesting ideas that are tapped into here, they ultimately don't go anywhere and lead into kind of an awkward ending.

Visst försöker Chahine klämma in mer än vad han är kapabel till och avslutningen bryter lite väl mot filmens form. Bör ända prisas för sina ambitioner och visst är det stundtals riktigt bra.

An autobiography containing nouvelle vague and third cinema aspects and represents memory very succesfully thanks to it mosaical structure. At the end of the film when we see the Statue of Liberty as a pasted layer at the background of Yehia, it also resembles the economic difficulties with which he has to go to America. A vivid and engaged example of personal film making.

While not as stunning as Cairo Station, it's a warm and easily relatable story with strong characters and flashes of brilliance, including Fellini-esque fantasias and clever use of music and stock footage. The problems arise with the other stories interwoven with the main plot. Each of these subplots could well be a fine film on their own, but the transitions between them are too abrupt. It leads to a lot of confusion and the nagging feeling that Chahine is piling too much on his plate.