''Saladin the Victorious'', also known as ''Saladin and the Great Crusades'' ( ar, الناصر صلاح الدين, transliteration. Al Nasser Salah Ad-Din), is a 1963

Egyptian Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...

war drama film directed by

Youssef Chahine Youssef Chahine ( ar, يوسف شاهين, Yūsuf Shāhīn ; 25 January 1926 – 27 July 2008) was an Egyptian film director. He was active in the Egyptian film industry from 1950 until his death. He directed twelve films that were listed ...

. It was written by

Yusuf Sibai Yusuf Mohamed Mohamed Abdel Wahab Al-Sibai ( ar, يوسف محمد محمد عبد الوهاب السباعي; June 17, 1917 – February 18, 1978), was an Egyptian writer and minister. Early life and education Sibai was born in 1919. He gra ...

, based on the novel by

Naguib Mahfouz Naguib Mahfouz Abdelaziz Ibrahim Ahmed Al-Basha ( arz, نجيب محفوظ عبد العزيز ابراهيم احمد الباشا, ; 11 December 1911 – 30 August 2006) was an Egyptian writer who won the 1988 Nobel Prize in Literature. M ...

. It stars

Ahmed Mazhar Ahmed Hafez Mazhar ( ar, أحمد حافظ مظهر, ʾAḥmad Ḥāfeẓ Mazāhar; 8 October 1917 – 8 May 2002) was an Egyptian actor. He graduated from the military academy in 1938 Saladin Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi () ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known by the epithet Saladin,, ; ku, سه‌لاحه‌دین, ; was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from an ethnic Kurdish family, he was the first of both Egypt and ...

Salah Zulfikar Salah El Din Ahmed Mourad Zulfikar ( ar, صلاح ذو الفقار; ; 18 January 1926 – 22 December 1993) was an Egyptian actor and film producer. He started his career as a police officer in the Egyptian National Police, before becoming an ac ...

as Issa El Awam.

Nadia Lutfi Nadia Lutfi or Nadia Loutfi ( ar, نادية لطفي; born Poula Mohamed Mostafa Shafiq ( ar, بولا محمد مصطفى شفيق); 3 January 1937 – 4 February 2020) was an Egyptian actress. During the apex of her career, she was one of the ...

as Louisa de Lusignan,

Omar El-Hariri Omar Mokhtar El-Hariri ( – 2 November 2015) was a leading figure of the National Transitional Council of Libya who served as the Minister of Military Affairs in 2011, during the Libyan Civil War. He controlled the National Liberation Army and ...

Mahmoud El-Meliguy Mahmoud el-Meliguy ( arz, محمود المليجي, ; 22 December 1910 – 6 June 1983) was an Egyptian screenwriter and an actor of film, theater, and television. He started his career playing minor roles, but achieved stardom in the lat ...

, Leila Fawzi, Hamdi Gheiss, Ahmed Luxor, Hussein Riad,

Laila Taher Laila Taher ( ar, ليلي طاهر) born Sherouette Moustafa Ibrahim ( ar, شيرويت مصطفي إبراهيم) is an Egyptian film, stage, television actress and presenter who is mostly known for her successful collaborations with Salah Zul ...

and Zaki Toleimat. It was entered into the

3rd Moscow International Film Festival The 3rd Moscow International Film Festival was held from 7 to 21 July 1963. The Grand Prix was awarded to the Italian film '' 8½'' directed by Federico Fellini. Jury * Grigori Chukhrai (USSR - President of the Jury) * Shaken Ajmanov (USSR) * S ...

. The film was restored to its original running time of 186 minutes from the original negative by the

Cineteca di Bologna The Cineteca di Bologna is a film archive in Bologna, Italy. It was founded on 18 May 1962. Since 1989, it has been a member of the Fédération internationale des archives du film (FIAF). It has been a member of the Association des cinémath ...

and was shown at

Il Cinema Ritrovato Il Cinema Ritrovato (meaning "cinema rediscovered") is a festival dedicated to the history of cinema, screening classics, retrospectives and showcasing the latest restored films from labs and archives around the world. The majority of the films sh ...

in June 2019. ''Saladin'' is one of the

Top 100 Egyptian films Top 100 Egyptian films aliases: CIFF 100 Egyptian films or Greatest 100 Egyptian films in 20th century or Top 100 films in the centenary of Egyptian cinema (Egyptian Arabic: قائمة أفضل مئة فيلم في مئوية السينما الم ...

Background

The movie depicts the events of the

Third Crusade The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt by three European monarchs of Western Christianity (Philip II of France, Richard I of England and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor) to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by ...

. What happened during those events is that after

Saladin Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi () ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known by the epithet Saladin,, ; ku, سه‌لاحه‌دین, ; was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from an ethnic Kurdish family, he was the first of both Egypt and ...

reclaimed Jerusalem, the European powers led by King

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stro ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, Emperor

Barbarossa Barbarossa, a name meaning "red beard" in Italian, primarily refers to: * Frederick Barbarossa (1122–1190), Holy Roman Emperor * Hayreddin Barbarossa (c. 1478–1546), Ottoman admiral * Operation Barbarossa, the Axis invasion of the Soviet Un ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and King Phillip Augustus of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

joined together to reclaim it and return it to Christian hands. This resulted in the war between the Europeans and Saladin, which lasted for three years before a truce was made between Saladin and King Richard, allowing Saladin to keep the land while Christians could freely enter Jerusalem. When the movie came out, it came at a time when Egypt was free of colonial rule and was released between two wars with Israel. Due to this, the Egyptian government was trying to promote its ideals, with the leader at the time, Gamal Abdel Nasser, being the representative of it. Saladin in many ways references and parallels Nasser as like the president, the movie Saladin pushes forth the ideal of a Pan Arab unity as all Arabs are united in the movie in fighting the European powers, which is no better portrayed then in the line "My dream is to see an Arab Nation under one flag, hearts united and free of hate." This is also portrayed well with Issa, who's a Christian Arab, yet chooses to fight alongside Saladin and his army. Similarly, it also has an anti-colonialism message as the European powers are trying to subjugate the Arab lands under their rule, but they resist and successfully manage to peacefully resolve the war. This is shown in showing the bronze Arabs pulling siege towers at the head of the Crusader army, the Arabs represent those who remain in oppression under imperialistic rule while the mechanical siege towers represent the war-like machines that were present in the battles Egypt fought for their independence.

Production

The budget was enormous at this time in Egypt, reaching 120,000 L.E. The poster was created by Egyptian artist Mohamed Ragheb.

Plot

The story of

(

Ahmed Mazhar Ahmed Hafez Mazhar ( ar, أحمد حافظ مظهر, ʾAḥmad Ḥāfeẓ Mazāhar; 8 October 1917 – 8 May 2002) was an Egyptian actor. He graduated from the military academy in 1938 Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, during the events of the

. The film starts with Jerusalem, which is under the authority of the Christians of Europe, having its Muslim pilgrims slaughtered by the Christians in the holy lands. Saladin upon hearing this news seeks the reclamation of the holy lands in a short, almost impossible campaign. He succeeds in taking back Jerusalem, which leads the powers of Europe to organize the Third Crusade with the combined forces of the French

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

(

) and the German

emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

under the leadership of

Richard the Lionheart Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was overl ...

. Saladin succeeds in preventing the recapture of Jerusalem, and in the end negotiations between himself and Richard (whom Saladin admires as the only honorable infidel leader) leave the Holy Land in Muslim hands. The movie also has a subplot involving Christian Issa El Awam (

), and the Crusader Louisa (

) portraying the title characters. At the beginning, both first meet when Issa accidentally comes upon her when she's taking a bath, and after he turns away waiting for her to get dressed before he takes her prisoner due to being a Crusader, she shoots an arrow at him and escapes. Eventually, after Issa in turns spares her life twice, Louisa chooses to give up her arms as a Crusader and becomes a nurse. This leads to the two falling in love and marrying each other, with Louisa choosing to remain in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

with him.

Reception

The film is considered one of the most important Arabic movies of all time, although some viewers took issue with the film's historical inaccuracies. It is also infamous for a production mistake showing a military officer wearing a wristwatch.

Historical Inaccuracies

Richard I was not shot by a poisoned arrow as depicted in the film but both Richard I and Philippe Augustus II of France were sick from arnaldia, a disease similar to scurvy. Saladin did not kill the king of France in a duel.

Cast

as Issa El Awam *

as Louisa de Lusignan *Hamdi Geiss as

King Richard I Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was ...

(Richard the Lion-Heart) * Leila Fawzi as Virginia, Princess of Kerak *

as Conrad, Marquis of Montferrat *Tewfik El Deken as Prince of Acre *Umar El-Hariri as King Philip of France *Zaki Tulaimat as Duke Arthur *

as Queen Berengaria *Ahmed Louxor as

Raynald of Châtillon Raynald of Châtillon (french: Renaud; 11254 July 1187), also known as Reynald or Reginald, was a Crusader knight of French origin but also Prince of Antioch from 1153 to 1160 or 1161, and Lord of Oultrejordain from 1175 until his death. He w ...

*Fattouh Nchati as

Guy of Lusignan Guy of Lusignan (c. 1150 – 18 July 1194) was a French Poitevin knight, son of Hugh VIII of Lusignan and as such born of the House of Lusignan. He was king of Jerusalem from 1186 to 1192 by right of marriage to Sibylla of Jerusalem, and King ...

*Ibrahim Emara *Mohamed Hamdi *Mohamed Abdel Gawad

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saladin The Victorious 1963 films 1960s historical drama films 1960s biographical drama films Egyptian biographical drama films Egyptian historical drama films Egyptian epic films Egyptian war drama films 1960s Arabic-language films Films about Islam Films based on Egyptian novels Films based on historical novels Films based on military novels Crusades films Films set in the 12th century Films directed by Youssef Chahine Cultural depictions of Saladin Cultural depictions of Richard I of England 1963 drama films 1960s war drama films Cultural depictions of Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor Films set in Jerusalem