Phonearl
Good start, but then it gets ruined
FuzzyTagz
If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.
Edwin
The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.
mramses
"The Ideas have Wings, you can never stop them from reaching the people".That was Al Massir, or the Destiny of Youssef Chahine. After his previous movie "El Mohager", Chahine was taken to court by a fundamentalist lawyer who claimed that Chahine presented the prophet Joseph in this movie and this is something forbidden "To show prophets on the screen" by Al Azhar. The lawyer wanted the court to stop showing the movie on the Egyptian screens as well as its distribution outside Egypt.Regardless of the final conclusion of the court, this case was the major motive behind the script of "Al Massir". Jo (Chahine) wanted to send a clear message to this people "You can never stop ideas from reaching the people, neither by burning the books (last scene of the movie), nor by forbidding movies, etc....' As usual, Averoes in this movie was Chahine himself. Trying to keep a good balance between what the history says about Averoes and what Chahine wanted to reflect on this character, he chose his characters to include all the contradictions he wanted to show. Politics, philosophy, love, integrism, etc.... they are everywhere. This idea of combining Islam with Terrorism bothers Chahine, that is why he started the movie with the french religious authorities burning a man who "Translated the books of this Averoes", so don't you be surprised when Muslims burn "Only" the books of Averoes. This analysis of Chahine is what really makes the movie special. It was expected after what happened to him in his last movie (as I said in the beginning), he could have just make it a good reason for a movie showing Muslims as Terrorists, an easy way to attract a Western spectator. But Jo chose the hard way to do it, showing that among all this terrorism, people are still "Life lovers" as mentioned by the first song. These people who just love their life were those fighting against terrorist - not with weapons - but with love. "We have to know first why they are doing this', said Averoes. Actors were really good specially Nour Elsherif, Mahmoud Hemeida, Khaled Elnabawi and Ahmed Fouad Selim. Mohamed Mounir is as usual the voice of Chahine singing "Sing out loud, we still can sing".
manuel-23
A film which will probably find many emphatic spectators due to its many facettes: * You might like historic films - this one shows you live of Andalusia in the 12th century with rich costumes and great islamic buildings; * you might prefer deep content - this film offers insight in the philosophy of the great muslem thinker Averroes (Ibn-Rushed) and the question why people get seducted by sects; * you might be interested in action, love and happy-end - this film offers as a story the conspiracy against the caliph, and happily ends with two couples that found each other (though very sensitively shown, compared to occidental films); * you might generally be interested how other cultures do films - this is a great example of oriental (Egyptian) cinema, which is close enough to be understood be occidental people; * you might like to follow personal development of the characters shown in the film - this one gives you insight in the development of the caliph's two sons: from "take all easy" to "use your own head to think". *** This film can be highly recommended !!! ***
Rasha.M.
I saw the film a couple of years ago. I thought it was a very good film. It dealt with terrorism, its origination and its effects on the youth and society of 12th century Arabia, which forms a present and alive problem in modern Arabia.
The film had a great deal of technique and style. Although the film is set in the past, the language of the script is in colloquial Arabic, which is spoken on the streets of Egypt at this point in time. Making delivering the content of the words more important than giving the audience a believable setting. Aside from being a historical representation it was a philosophical thought on religion, society and politics. Some of the obvious themes in the film were as follows. The freedom of thought expressed in the power of the written and spoken word as a form of representation of the people, what they stand for, and their sufferings. In addition to the self and social destruction caused by ones political motivation hidden behind a religious façade. Finally the film brings great memory of Francois Truffaut's –`Fahrenheit 451'-. In making the point that one can burn all the books in the world, but that would never take what is in the books away from the people, because true words, weather written or memorized, are humanities memory and being till the end of time. Both films complement each other, one can darlingly view, `Al-Massir' as the beginning of a time that was elaborately explored in `Fahrenheit 451.' Both films had the same ending, in which the books were burnt and the words were kept in the memory of the people, independent of what the present political power did. The words of scholars, philosophers and story tellers live forever.
Cath-10
This is a wonderful movie on tolerance. Chahine shows how the powers of dance, happiness and erudition oppose the dark forces of obscurantism and fanatism. Not only is the movie never rhetorically boring, but it is full of joy and music, making you feel like dancing ! This is definitely a masterpiece.
