This was excellent. I felt like I was with you the whole time, and I got a guided tour with commentary (I laughed a lot, too). I'm glad you took this trip and wrote about it!
I’ve recently become a fan of the Egyptian filmmaker Youssef Chahine, who has around 20 movies available to watch on the Criterion Channel in the U.S. (I’m not sure on availability outside the U.S.) So far I’ve watched all of his available films from the 50s. Cairo Station and The Blazing Sun (aka Struggle in the Valley) are both great. The latter has a great scene at one of the temples in Luxor. The films feel a lot like old Indian movies. Chahine is from Alexandria and has set a number of films there. Though I didn’t think it was a particularly good film, Dark Waters (aka Struggle in the Pier) is a beautiful depiction of the city, so I modestly recommend it. My contribution to gender discourse on Egypt is that Egyptian films of the 50s show more skin than Hollywood films of the same era. (That was then, this is now…)
I’m surprised you didn’t mention the culinary and linguistic connection between koshari and khichdi. Of course there’s a lot of debate on koshari’s origins.
Fun fact, near that Hindu temple-like Baron Empain Palace is the presidential palace that was formerly the Heliopolis Palace Hotel, commissioned by the same Belgian industrialist, Édouard Empain. The architect of the Heliopolis Palace (but not the Baron Empain Palace) Ernest Jaspar ended up designing the similar looking Osmania University in Hyderabad.
This was excellent. I felt like I was with you the whole time, and I got a guided tour with commentary (I laughed a lot, too). I'm glad you took this trip and wrote about it!
Great read!
I’ve recently become a fan of the Egyptian filmmaker Youssef Chahine, who has around 20 movies available to watch on the Criterion Channel in the U.S. (I’m not sure on availability outside the U.S.) So far I’ve watched all of his available films from the 50s. Cairo Station and The Blazing Sun (aka Struggle in the Valley) are both great. The latter has a great scene at one of the temples in Luxor. The films feel a lot like old Indian movies. Chahine is from Alexandria and has set a number of films there. Though I didn’t think it was a particularly good film, Dark Waters (aka Struggle in the Pier) is a beautiful depiction of the city, so I modestly recommend it. My contribution to gender discourse on Egypt is that Egyptian films of the 50s show more skin than Hollywood films of the same era. (That was then, this is now…)
I’m surprised you didn’t mention the culinary and linguistic connection between koshari and khichdi. Of course there’s a lot of debate on koshari’s origins.
Fun fact, near that Hindu temple-like Baron Empain Palace is the presidential palace that was formerly the Heliopolis Palace Hotel, commissioned by the same Belgian industrialist, Édouard Empain. The architect of the Heliopolis Palace (but not the Baron Empain Palace) Ernest Jaspar ended up designing the similar looking Osmania University in Hyderabad.
Heliopolis: https://english.ahram.org.eg/Media/News/2014/6/16/2014-635385214351888593-188.jpg
Hyderabad: https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcScHIhEaHgCjSA-iJyIraMGQPm0u_XDvVtZhvMaieXLyw&s=10
Nice!
fun trip. great notes. you might want to recheck alex the great dates.