Silence, on tourne

Youssef Chahine, a regular guest of the festival, is rightly known as the grand master of Egyptian cinema. He made his first film in 1950 and since then his large oeuvre has been screened and given awards world wide, for instance a Palme d’or for Al massir at the 1997 Cannes festival. With Silence… on tourne Chahine has made an intelligent mix of melodrama and comedy. This lighthearted and ironic portrait of the Egyptian showbiz world is also a subtle reflection on social inequality, in which there is regularly room for song and dance.Malak (played by Latifa, also a wellknown singer in real life) is a famous singer and actress. After an onerous divorce, she falls for the charms of the smooth Lamei, who sees in Malak his chance to climb a few rungs up the social ladder. Her love changes to obsession, when her regular scriptwriter and her director, who do not trust Lamei an inch, try to scupper their relationship. Her grandmother most wants to see Malak marry the son of the chauffeur, a respectable man who has been to university. Malak’s family, friends and colleagues decide to plot together and tell Lamei that Malak’s daughter, Paula, will inherit all her money. This trick works: Lamei seduces Paula and in doing so betrays his despicable motives.