Customer Reviews

Destiny [VHS]

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The film by egyptian director Youssef Chahine "Destiny" , recalls the story of Averoes the writer and scientist and takes place partly in Andalusia. I recommend you to see this film on the Free minded writer in an age when Europe was living under religious inquisition, and Andalusia torn between political rivalry between religious and political intolerance.The film is a strong message against religious intolerance and Chahine is very courageous in his statements. The film was prized in Caan and did well at the box office. Sure it does have its shortcomings due to lack of financial help. The special effects were made in Paris Studio's, but on the whole the film is a spleandor for the eyes and ears. However beyond its political statement the film is also a hommage to Hollywoods golden Age Cinema, which influenced Chahines generation, in that it is at the sametime a Musical, a Peplum ( that is swords and sandles movie) and also a Comedy at times.I highly reccomend this film to westerners who can rediscover Egyptian cinema and one of its best directors.

Like many a philosopher before and after him Avveros(Ibn Rushd) was the subject of ridicule by the ignorant and fanatic alike. Youssef Chahine deserves a great deal of credit for having the courage to make this film. While the film lacks good lighting and the accent is egyptian, the struggle between secular and ultra orthodox is a story that deserves to be examined thoroughly. The film set in 12th century Andalusia(Spain) could just as well be set in any modern day society (not just Muslim societies). The film would be a lot more impressive if it was dubbed in English. The dialogue is quite immpressive when Avveros presents his arguments. I hope that the film will be dubbed because it has a lot to say and I intend to use it in my teaching at the University. Thank you Mr. Chahine. I wish you would make more films about the other greats like Alhaytham( Alhazen),Ibn Sina and Ibn Khaldoun. Perhaps funding for these projects could be secured from educational and artistic foundations.

Once again, Chahine outdoes himself. This film is of great quality; the cinematography, the soundtrack, the acting, the scenario, everything. The stories of great Arab/Muslim persons are often forgotton. Chahine reminds us of IbnRushd the great philosopher and of the true essence of Islam that is based on love of life. It is a witty and powerful criticism of religious fanatics who destroy the image of a religion of which the very name means peace. The only bad thing about this film is the scene where 'Laila Elwee' dances the flamenco. But, her acting elswhere is genuine. I would love to see more movies by this world famous director on Amazon.com.

What a great Movie. Youseef put all of his effort to come up with this Unparallel movie. I personlly look forword to see what is his new? He is the best Director in the middle east..no doupt about that. Don't hisitate..go ahead and buy it..you won't regret it..!

Youssef Chahine's "Destiny" or "Al-Massir" is a film that really deserves a wider audience in North America. It is a fun, adventurous, and well-acted film. Its subject is the important twelfth century Arab philosopher Ibn Rushd (or Averroes as he was known in Europe). The movie takes place in the romantic setting of medieval Arab Spain, the enchanted land of al-Andalus. The film is a commentary on the dangers of corrupt governments and religious fanaticism, and hence somewhat of a commentary of Chahine's Egypt of the 1990s. As a testament to the film's passionate message of intellectual freedom, as well as its very good production and direction, it won the prestigious 50th Anniversary Palme D'or Prize at Cannes in 1997. Though an Arabic film, it is available with French and English subtitles.

The star of the film, Nour El Cherif, does an excellent job of portraying Ibn Rushd, who was a brilliant judge and commentator of Aristotle, faced with issues of government, religion, and family. The film has elements of a musical, in that at certain points the characters break into song and dance. This is not overdone however, and mostly adds to the film's sense of fun, right alongside the very important issues it deals with.

As Ibn Rushd's reconciliation of faith and reason would be deeply influential in Europe, helping to foster such developments as the Renaissance, the film is important as it shows the interrelationship between Europe and the Arab world, between Christianity and Islam. It also shows how ideas transcend borders, and highlights some of the universal values we all share regardless of culture.

Overall, a very, very good film that serves well as a Friday night movie, or a film for the classroom.

This is a great historical epic. It's from the 1100's Spain, which was ruled by Muslim rulers at the time. It centers around Averroe who is a great medieval philosopher and a thinker. He clashes with fundamentalists who are attempting to stamp out all free thought and other "vices" of their time. It is not only a great historical account, but also a very urgent and important message for our day. The irony of history is that at the time, the Muslim world was the educated world and Christian Europe was very backward and illiterate. It's another one of those "must see" movies and in fact should be a required material for schools.

The movie is hard to get as it is a European production, but it's not impossible, try Amazon and Ebay -- it's worth it. Just make sure you get NTSC version or have a PAL-compatible VCR/DVD if you get the PAL version. There are also some movie rentals that have this movie in their foreign film section. The film is in Arabic with English subtitles, which may discourage some, but it's wonderful. Arabic is such a melodic language and it add authenticity to the account.

This is a moving and beautifully filmed tale of a war, the unending war between skeptical reason and religious fanaticism, with its dire political consequences. The setting is medieval Andalusia, but could also well be some contemporary Arab and Muslim country. One of Chahine's major aims is clearly to satirize the lust for power clothed in a religious robe that is a thorny issue in these quarters today. But the movie is chiefly about the relations between rational wisdom and a disquieting world, about music (some rousing numbers, and all the music is beautiful and shiny), about love. The movie should also appeal to a gay audience: Chahine is gay, as his brand of soft and "ladish" eroticism shows it very well. All in all, a highly "watchable", entertaining and thought-provoking piece of art that I cheerfully recommend.

This award winning movie is the best work of Chahine, unless his best work is yet to come! This movie has received many awards at the Cannes Festival in France. But "Destiny"'s highest recognition was it's selection for the 50th Anniversary Award at Cannes also. This prize is given only once to a most outstanding and distinguished movie. If there is one movie you need to see from Chahine's work, this is IT!

Destiny or Al-Maseer as it is known in Arabic is a gorgeous looking whitewash about the ever present link between Religion and violence. The message here ofcourse is that fanatacism is an abberation of the true nature of Islam, and while this is certainly true, the director Yousef Shahin forgets to involve the audience on a dramatic level before spoon feeding them this ever so politically correct message.

The first and most jarring problem is the accents, which are for the most part modern Egyptian slang. Western audiences won't mind this, as they are reading sub-titles anyway, however as a person who speaks the language I found the characters' accents hilarious. Imagine Keanu Reeves in Bill and Ted state of mind acting in Spartacus.

Another highly unnessecary device is having the characters break into song every 10 minutes, it not only destroys the dramatic tension, but this being a religious epic the result is often ludicrous. Roger Ebert found this charming in his review of the film, but he isn't familiar with the fact that singing in non-musical films is a constant irritation in Egyptian films.

This maybe unpatriotic of me, as I am Egyptian, but this confused film is probably one of the best films in Egyptian cinema for a couple of years now. But just because it is less terrible then most of the dross produced does not make it anygood . There is a compelling film to be made from this material, the relationship between organised idealogy and violence goes as far back as the begining of man. Unfortunately Destiny is not that film.

I must admit that I am a Chahine junky. He may not be accurate, he may not be liked in the arab world (he is pretty unpolitically correct & bold in his work), but I enjoy his work. Especially the more recent work.
He choses not only real interesting actors, but he also has a style. You watch these movies in the movie theatre & your heart really races. He taes you to another world, one you'd like to stay in.

I just love all his movies, including this one. One comment though, Laial Olowy has acted with a little bit too much exaggeration. Not that it changed my mind.

Oh I also want to add that I love the fact that it's in contemporary language, it makes it all the more interesting to watch. Who in the arab world really enjoys classical arabic?