Cinema
Beggars and Noblemen
شحاذون ونبلاء
Asma El Bakry · 1991
Synopsis
Cairo, June 1945, in the last days of the war. Gohar, a former university professor, has given up everything to live as a vagrant in a poor neighbourhood, where he serves as a sage to those around him, among them the poet Yeghen. In a fit of madness, he kills a young prostitute. Inspector Nour el-Dine takes the case, guesses who the culprit is and dogs his steps, hoping for a confession, while Gohar counters him with his philosophy of renunciation.
Context
The first feature film by its director, the film is based on the novel that Albert Cossery published in French in 1955, already adapted for the screen by Jacques Poitrenaud in 1972. Co-produced by Misr International Films and the French company Palmyre Productions, under the direction of Marianne Khoury and Youssef Chahine, its cinematography is by Ramses Marzouk. Salah al-Saadani plays Gohar and Ahmed Adam Yeghen. The film was released in France on 5 May 1993.
Who it is for
A feature film of one hour thirty-two minutes, in Arabic, based on a novel written in French and available as a paperback.
Prizes and reception
Co-produced with France, where it was released in cinemas in 1993, it opens the fiction work of a documentary filmmaker.