المشروع القومي العربي في سينما يوسف شاهين

by Malek Khouri, حسين بيومي (ترجمة وتقديم)

ينطلق ربط أفلام شاهين في هذا الكتاب- من حيث الجوهر- بالأوضاع الاجتماعية والسياسية؛ من أن "فكرة المسروع العربي والهوية القومية العربية التي ظهرت ونضجت منذ خمسينيات القرن الماضي كونت وشكلت الجزء الرئيسي من أعمال شاهين"، ويرى المؤلف أنه "بوفاة عبد الناصر تحددت نهاية هذا المشروع، وأصبح مشروعاً غير من منجز، ومن ثم تغير فهم شاهين للمشروع القومي العربي من مشروع قائم على الصراع الطبقي".

Paperback

First published May 1, 2010

Reviews

[Hussein R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Malek Khouri’s “The Arab National Project in Youssef Chahine’s Cinema” is a well written book that not only traces the so-called Arab national project in the great director’s body of work, but also serves as a tribute to Chahine and his cinema all together.

Unfortunately the book is too much on the academic side, with too much jargon and over complication sometimes just for the sake of it. It also includes a number of errors on some relevant dates and major plot lines in some of Chahine’s films, making me wonder if the author had actually seen these films again while writing the book. The author not being Egyptian also does not help, in terms of understanding the nuances that all Chahine films are riddled with.

All in all, and despite its shortcomings, the book is a worthy addition to the scarce literature on the topic, and would certainly contribute to a better understanding of the Chahine universe.