The Emigrant (1994)

It is really quite interesting to watch this story from a Egyptian film-makers' perspective. Khaled Nabawy ("Ram") is the favourite son, despised by his older brothers, who ends up working far away for the Commander of Pharoah's bodyguard. He soon ingratiates himself with him, and his visionary, open-minded attitude soon attracts favour from the Pharaoh himself... It is pretty much a straight adaptation of the story from Genesis 37 but unfortunately it has a bit of a made-for-television feel about it. Youssef Chahine still manages to keep it all going well enough, and Nabawy in the lead is at times quite engaging, but at other times he comes across a bit amateur, and the whole thing lacks much of the intensity of the director's earlier, more gripping, black and white creations; the action scenes - for example - are quite clunkily choreographed and the fight scenes lack any, well, punch!