Cairo Station (1958)

باب الحديد 

or Bāb al-Ḥadīd

or Cairo Station

starring Farid Shawqi, Hind Rostom, Youssef Chahine

directed by Youssef Chahine

in Arabic with English subtitles

Qinawi (Youssef Chahine), a newspaper seller who works in Cairo Station and walks with a limp, is obsessed with Hannuma (Hind Rostom), a beautiful young woman who sells bottled drinks in Cairo Station. Abu Siri (Farid Shawqi), Hannuma's fiancé, works in Cairo Station as a porter and is in the process of trying to create a union for the porters.

Qinawi snaps after Hannuma teases him one too many times for fawning over her. Qinawi, inspired by a story about a man who killed a woman and chopped her up into pieces, buys a knife and seems ready to do the same to Hannuma.

Thoughts

I saw this movie as part of the 2024 edition of the Noir City DC film festival. It was the back half of a double feature. The front half was Union Station (1950). The thread that connects the two can be found in the titles of the films.

There was a minute or two towards the end of the movie (in the screening that I saw) that were missing subtitles.

In the early going I though this might be more slice of life than noir. I reconsidered that perspective once Qinawi's obsession with Hannuma proved to be potentially homicidal.

Hind Rostom was a mesmerizing screen presence. It isn't hard to see why Qinawi and Abu Siri were so drawn to her.

There is more to this movie than just the story. There are messages within it. It makes reference to a number of issues that would later be forbidden in Egyptian cinema such as labor organizing and women's rights.

This was an interesting watch but I'm not sure what to make of it. Visually it really grabbed me but I also feel a bit bothered by the change in tone. Maybe that's intentional and I just need to accept it.