Film no.13 Saladin and the Great Crusades

Saladin and the Great Crusades, Youssef Chahine, 1963

Saladin, ruler of the kingdoms surrounding the Latin state of Jerusalem, is brought to attack the Christians in the Holy Land by sacking a convoy of Muslim pilgrims, a group which included his sister. In a short campaign against odds, Jerusalem is taken and almost the entire Middle East is in Muslim hands. Crusade is called again in Europe, and the combined forces of the French king, German emperor, and English king form the 3rd Crusade, under the leadership of Richard the Lionheart of England. Although Accre is taken by the Crusaders, Saladin succeeds in preventing the recapture of Jerusalem, and in the end negotiations between himself and Richard (who Saladin admires as the only honorable leader) leave the Holy Land in Muslim hands. —IMDb

The 1963 film El Naser Salah el Dine (Saladin) is an historical epic by Egyptian Christian filmmaker Youssef Chahine and the second film (a black and white one appeared in 1941) about one of the most famous Muslim heroes ever, let alone of the Middle Ages, Salah ad-Din (a nickname meaning "Righteousness of the Faith"), "Saladin" in the West. The film also has an interesting subtext of conflating Saladin's reputation with that of then-Egyptian strongman Gamal Abdel Nasser. In the late 12th century, Saladin conquered the Arab world and reconquered most of the crusader states (including Jerusalem) for Islam before fighting English King Richard Lionheart to a draw in the Third Crusade. A film classic in Egypt, Saladin remains little known in the West. Ironically, it gives a view of Saladin that appears to be like the Western one on the surface, but is fundamentally different. At heart, Western contemporaries of Saladin saw him as an honorable Muslim outlaw. Modern Arabs, meanwhile, use the same stories to portray him as the paragon of a legitimate Arab ruler. -Suite 101

Youssef Chahine

Youssef Chahine (born in Alexandria, Egypt, 1926) started studying in a friars’ school, and then turned to English College until the High School Certificate. After one year in the University of Alexandria, he moved to the U.S. and spent two years at the Pasadena Play House, taking courses on film and dramatic arts. After coming back to Egypt, cinematographer Alevise Orfanelli helped him into the film business. His film debut was Baba Amin (1950): one year later, with Ibn el Nil (1951) he was first invited to the Cannes Film festival. In 1970, he was awarded a Golden Tanit at the Carthage Festival. With Le moineau (1973), he directed the first Egypt-Algeria co-production. He won a Silver Bear in Berlin for Iskanderija… lih? (1978), the first installment in what proved to be an autobiographic trilogy, completed with adduta misrija (1982) and Iskanderija, kaman oue kaman (1990).

In 1992, Jacques Lassalle proposed him to stage a piece of his choice for Comédie Française: Chahine chose to adapt Albert Camus’ “Caligula,” which proved hugely successful. The same year he started writing Al-mohager (1994), a story inspired by the Biblical character of Joseph, son of Jacob. This had long been a dream-project, and he finally got to shoot it in 1994. In 1997, 46 years and 5 invitations later, he was again selected Hors Competition in Cannes with Al-massir (1997). —IMDb