Wikipedia

Saladin the Victorious

Saladin the Victorious(Arabic:الناصر صلاح الدين,Al-Nasser Salah Ad-Din), also known asSaladin and the Great Crusades,is a 1963Egyptianepic filmdirected byYoussef Chahine.It is co-written by Chahine,Yusuf Sibaiand others, based on a novel byNaguib Mahfouz.The film features anensemble cast.It starsAhmed Mazhar,Salah Zulfikar,Nadia Lutfi,Omar El-Hariri,Mahmoud El-Meliguy,Leila Fawzi,Hamdi Gheiss, Ahmed Luxor,Hussein Riad,Laila Taherand Zaki Toleimat.

Al Nasser Salah Ad-Din
English cover
Directed byYoussef Chahine
Written by
Produced byAssia Dagher
Starring
CinematographyWadeed Sirry
Edited byRachida Abdel Salam
Music byAngelo Francesco Lavagnino
Production
companies
  • Lotus Films
  • General Egyptian Corporation for Cinema Production
Distributed byLotus Film Distribution
Release date
  • 1963(1963)
Running time
186 minutes
CountryEgypt
LanguageArabic

It was entered into the3rd Moscow International Film Festival.[1]The film was restored to its original running time of 186 minutes from the original negative by theCineteca di Bolognaand was shown atIl Cinema Ritrovatoin June 2019.Saladin the Victoriousis one of the Top 100 Egyptian films.[2][according to whom?]

Background

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The movie depicts the events of theThird Crusade.What happened during those events is that afterSaladinreclaimed Jerusalem, the European powers led by KingRichardofEngland,EmperorBarbarossaof theHoly Roman Empireand KingPhillip AugustusofFrancejoined together to reclaim it and return it to Christian hands. This resulted in the war between the Europeans and Saladin, which lasted for three years before a truce was made between Saladin and King Richard, allowing Saladin to keep the land while Christians could freely enter Jerusalem.

When the movie came out, it came at a time when Egypt was free of colonial rule and was released between two wars with Israel. Due to this, the Egyptian government was trying to promote its ideals, with the leader at the time,Gamal Abdel Nasser,being the representative of it. Saladin in many ways references and parallels Nasser as like the president, the movie Saladin pushes forth the ideal of aPan Arabunity as all Arabs are united in the movie in fighting the European powers, which is no better portrayed than in the line "My dream is to see an Arab Nation under one flag, hearts united and free of hate." This is also portrayed well with Issa, who is aChristian Arab,yet chooses to fight alongside Saladin and his army. Similarly, it also has an anti-colonialism message as the European powers are trying to subjugate the Arab lands under their rule, but they resist and successfully manage to peacefully resolve the war. This is shown in showing the bronze Arabs pulling siege towers at the head of the Crusader army, the Arabs represent those who remain in oppression under imperialistic rule while the mechanical siege towers represent the war-like machines that were present in the battles Egypt fought for their independence.[3]

Salah ad-Din al-Ayyubi, widely known as Saladin, is regarded as one of the mosticonic figuresin Islamic history. He rose to prominence during the 12th century as the leader of the Muslim forces during the Crusades. Saladin’s unwavering determination, military prowess, and chivalry won the respect of his allies and foes alike. He famously recaptured Jerusalem from the Crusaders and promoted peaceful coexistence among diverse religious and cultural communities.

Production

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The budget was enormous at this time in Egypt, reaching 120,000 L.E.[4][5]The poster was created by Egyptian artist Mohamed Ragheb.[6]

Plot

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The story ofSaladin(Ahmed Mazhar) portrays the title character, ruler of the kingdoms surroundingJerusalem,during the events of theThird Crusade.The film starts with Jerusalem, which is under the authority of the Christians of Europe, having itsMuslimpilgrims slaughtered by the Christians in the holy lands. Saladin upon hearing this news seeks the reclamation of the holy lands in a short, almost impossible campaign. He succeeds in taking back Jerusalem, which leads the powers of Europe to organize the Third Crusade with the combined forces of the Frenchking(Omar El-Hariri) and the Germanemperorunder the leadership ofRichard the LionheartofEngland.Saladin succeeds in preventing the recapture of Jerusalem, and in the end negotiations between himself and Richard (whom Saladin admires as the only honorable infidel leader) leave the Holy Land in Muslim hands.

The movie also has a subplot involving ChristianIssa El Awam(Salah Zulfikar), and the CrusaderLouisa(Nadia Lutfi) portraying the title characters. At the beginning, both first meet when Issa accidentally comes upon her when she's taking a bath, and after he turns away waiting for her to get dressed before he takes her prisoner due to being a Crusader, she shoots an arrow at him and escapes. Eventually, after Issa in turns spares her life twice, Louisa chooses to give up her arms as a Crusader and becomes a nurse. This leads to the two falling in love and marrying each other, with Louisa choosing to remain inJerusalemwith him.

Reception

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The film is considered one of the most important Arabic movies of all time, although some viewers took issue with the film's historical inaccuracies.[7][8]It is also infamous for a production mistake showing a military officer wearing a wristwatch.[9]

Historical Inaccuracies

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Richard I was not shot by a poisoned arrow as depicted in the film but both Richard I and Philippe Augustus II of France were sick from arnaldia, a disease similar to scurvy.[10]

Saladin did not killRaynald of Châtillonin a duel but did personally execute him.

Cast

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See also

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References

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  1. ^"3rd Moscow International Film Festival (1963)".MIFF.Archived fromthe originalon 2013-01-16.Retrieved2012-12-01.
  2. ^"Top 100 Egyptian Films (CIFF)".IMDb.Retrieved2021-09-05.
  3. ^Sturtevant, Paul. "SaladiNasser".Hollywood in the Holy Land:123–146.
  4. ^Rebecca., Hillauer (2005).Encyclopedia of Arab women filmmakers.Brown, Allison (Translator), Cohen, Deborah., Joyce, Nancy. (Rev. and updated ed.). Cairo, Egypt: American University in Cairo Press. p. 31.ISBN9789774162688.OCLC506249242.
  5. ^Malek., Khouri (2010).Arab national project in Youssef Chahine's cinema.Cairo: American University in Cairo Press. p. 47.ISBN978-1936190515.OCLC680621216.
  6. ^"Tarek Ragheb Establishes Arts Scholarship to Honor Father's Memory".The American University in Cairo.RetrievedJuly 6,2020.
  7. ^"أخطاء قاتلة في تاريخ صناعة الأفلام المصرية -"(in Arabic). 2017-04-07.Retrieved2018-09-02.
  8. ^"غسان مسعود: يوسف شاهين غيّر في أحداث" صلاح الدين "من أجل عبدالناصر | المصري اليوم".almasryalyoum(in Arabic).Retrieved2018-09-02.
  9. ^توفيق, أحمد خالد (2017).وساس وهلاوس.Kayan Publishing. p. 49.ISBN9789778200348.
  10. ^"The Illnesses of King Richard and King Philippe on the Third Crusade".Medievalists.net.3 September 2014.
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