Youssef Chahine - Controversies

Controversies

• The Sparrow attacks Egyptian corruption and blamed it for the defeat in the Six Day War.
• Cairo Station, albeit a classic of Egyptian cinema, also shocked viewers both by the sympathy with which a "fallen woman" is depicted and by the violence with which another is killed.
• During the several following years Chahine found himself increasingly in conflict with the government-backed film industry of Egypt and its heavy political restrictions in filmmaking. In 1964 he voluntarily went into exile to Lebanon, where he shot two musicals: Bayya al-Khawatim (1965, Ring Seller ) and Rim al-Dhahab (1967, Sands of Gold ). Ring Seller became one of the best musicals of Arab cinema, bringing success to Youssef Chahine, whereas Sands of Gold, due to delays in shooting and its box-office failure, forced him to quit his work in Lebanon and return to Egypt.