"A few years ago sudden, possibly fatal heart surgery forced director Youssef Chahine toreevaluate his life, its accomplishments and purpose. Although he hadmade 25 films in 32 years, he wondered whether he had been successful increating work of lasting value, assuring him some small measure ofimmortality. "Chahine decided the best contributionhe could make would be an honest portrayal of his life, and throughthat, of society. The result of this effort is Hadouta Masriya, whichbegins as Chahine's alter ego Yehia Choukri lies on the operating table.In flashback, Choukri recalls his life and loves as interwoven withmajor national events: the ouster of King Farouk, the swinging of thepolitical pendulum to socialism and back to capitalism. Despite theseupheavals, social mores remained largely unchanged, as they still dotoday. Choukri finds himself between these political extremes and socialabsolutes, suspected by all for totally accepting none, trying to definehis own middle ground. This is a dilemma we all face in any society,though to different degrees. So this Egyptian story is ultimately auniversal story as well. "In a sense, this film isa sequel, or reply to Alexandria...Why? (Filmex 79), in which Choukri isa young man hoping to become a director. Hadouta Masriya enables us tocompare his anticipation with the reality." Judith Szarka, San FranciscoInt'l Film Festival '83

• Directed, Produced andWritten by Youssef Chahine. Photographed by Mohsen Nasr. With Nour ElCherif. (1982,127 mins, In Arabic with English titles, 35mm, Color)