Set entirely in a train station in Cairo, the film is about a mentally-unstable newspaper seller with a bad limp who tries to win over a young woman selling cold drinks even though she is engaged to a porter who is trying to unionize his fellow workers. It is a film that explores a tumultuous period in Egypt’s history with this train station being the centerpiece of a conflict of an ever-changing world. The film’s screenplay by Abel Hay Adib, with Mohamed Abu Youssef writing the dialogue, is straightforward though it is first shown from the perspective of a newsstand owner in Madbouli (Hassan El Baroudi) who would find a young man in Kenawi (Youssef Chahine) in the streets and hire him as a paperboy despite his physical limitations.
Kenawi pines for Hanuma (Hind Rostom) who sells cold drinks illegally to train passengers as she is engaged to the porter Abu Serih (Farid Shawki) who is upset towards the station manager Abu Gaber (Abdel Aziz Khalil) over the lack of respect towards workers as he tries to unionize. The script also plays into many things happening at the station such as a feminist protest, a young woman waiting for her boyfriend who is about to leave Cairo, and a story about a serial killer who is on the loose.
Chahine’s direction is entrancing in its approach to realism as it is shot entirely on location in and near the actual train station in Cairo. The train station with the newsstand at the center of the station where Kenawi would get papers and deliver them to whoever is at the station is a character in the film where a lot of activities are happening including a young woman (Hilin) waiting for her boyfriend as she would be seen throughout the film. Chahine’s usage of the wide and medium shots get a nice look into the station itself as well as a few scenes outside including a fountain as it shows this conflict of Cairo entering a new phase where modernism is emerging with old ideas, old buildings, and traditional clothing are on their way out. Especially in scenes where Serih is trying to get other workers to form a union against Abu Gaber after a worker got injured on the job without any compensation. Another moment in the film that highlights this change in Egypt is a brief protest feminist movement led by an organizer (Naima Wasfi) over the issue of marriage. There are still elements of traditionalism in the film through some of its older characters, yet Chahine is aware that things must change for Egypt to move forward.
Chahine’s usage of close-ups in the film are eerie to watch as it play into Kenawi’s troubled state of mind and his obsession towards Hanuma. Notably in the film’s second half where he learns about Hanuma’s engagement with Serih as they decide to get married outside of Cairo to a rural village. It would play into this suspense-drama where things are tense as it relates to a serial killer on the loose where Kenawi would do something horrifying as it would be followed by an aftermath that is filled with suspense. Especially as it would lead to a climax where many at the station come together where Chahine would bring a sense of humanity over this moment where everyone put aside their own differences. Its ending is symbolic in some ways as it would return to the young woman who had been waiting for her young boyfriend while everyone else is focused on something else that plays into the end of an era for Egypt but the beginning of a new era. Overall, Chahine crafts an evocative and rapturous film about a train station in Cairo and the people at the station.
Cinematographer Alvise Orfanelli does incredible work with the film’s black-and-white photography with its usage of available light for some of the interior/exterior scenes in the day as well as some unique lighting for some of the scenes at night. Editor Kamul Abul Ela does excellent work with the editing as its usage of straight and rhythmic cuts to play into the drama and suspense. Art director Gabriel Karraze and set decorator Abbas Helmy do fantastic work with some of the minimal sets such as the shed that Kenawi lives as well as Hanuma’s trunk.
Makeup artists Sayed Mohammed and Hamdi Rafaat do terrific work with the look of the women in the film including Hanuma in her own exotic look. The sound work of Aziz Fadel and A. Mohamad is superb for capturing the natural atmosphere of the locations as well as the way trains sound up close and from afar. The film’s music by Fouad El Zahiri is wonderful for its orchestral score filled with Egyptian percussions and string arrangements that help play into the drama while the music soundtrack also features a scene in the train where early rock n’ roll is being played.
The film’s marvelous cast feature some notable small roles and appearances from Naima Wasif as a feminist organizer, Abdel Hamid Badaoha as a police sergeant always chasing Hanuma, Asaad Kellada as a young traveler, Hilin as the young woman waiting for that young traveler, and Safia Sarwat as a friend of Hanuma in Hallawatim who also sells drinks as she would play a major part relating to its climax. Abdel Aziz Khalil is superb as the station manager Abu Gaber as a man who runs the entire station as he deals with a growing rebellion over his leadership. Hassan El Baroudi is fantastic as the newsstand owner Madbouli who would take Kenawi under his employment where he observes everything around him as well as be the one person that Kenawi would listen to.
Farid Shawki is excellent as Abu Serih as a porter who rebels against Abu Gaber in wanting to form a union for every other worker at the station while he also tries to balance his life with Hanuma, despite her own activities as he sees as a liability, to ensure a better future. Hind Rostom is amazing as Hanuma as a cold-drinks vendor who sells drinks illegally to make money while she is an object of affection for Kenawi whom she dismisses until things go wrong. Finally, there is Youssef Chahine in a brilliant performance as Kenawi as a mentally-unstable man with a bad limp that is obsessed with Hanuma while he does not speak much yet it is a performance filled with intrigue.
Bab al-Hadid is a phenomenal film by Youssef Chahine. Featuring a great cast, gorgeous visuals, a study of life in a train station during a tumultuous period in Egypt, and a riveting music score. It is a film that explores a moment in time at a Cairo train station that plays into romantic entanglements and social changes leading to a moment of chaos. In the end, Bab al Hadid is a sensational film by Youssef Chahine.
Youssef Chahine Films: (Son of the Nile) – (The Blazing Sun) – (Struggle in the Pier) – (Jamila, the Algerian) – (Forever Yours (1959 film)) – (Saladin the Victorious) – (Dawn of a New Day) – (The Nile and the Life) – (The Land (1969 film)) – (The Choice (1970)) – (Those People of the Nile) – (The Return of the Prodigal Son) – (Alexandria… Why?) – (An Egyptian Story) – (Adieu Bonaparte) – (Alexandria Again and Forever) – (The Emigrant (1994 film)) – (Lumiere and Company-Youssef Chahine) – (Destiny (1997 film)) – (The Other (1999 film)) – 11’9”01-September 11-Egypt - (Alexandria… New York) – To Each His Own Cinema-47 Years Later - (Chaos, This is)
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