About this episode
Hang onto your slipcases, because Blake Howard and author William "Bill" Boyle discuss the impact of the neorealist melodrama fusion of CAIRO STATION on us watching and on Bill's latest novel, SAINT OF THE NARROWS STREET . Cairo Station Youssef Chahine established his international reputation with this masterpiece, which, though initially a commercial failure in Egypt, would become one of the most influential and celebrated works in all of Arab cinema. The director himself stars as Kenawi, a disabled newspaper hawker whose obsession with a sultry drink seller (Hind Rostom, known as the “Marilyn Monroe of Arabia”) leads to tragedy of operatic proportions on the streets of Cairo. Blending elements of neorealism with provocative noir-melodrama, Cairo Station is a work of raw populist poetry that explores the individual’s search for a place in Egypt’s new postrevolutionary political order. BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack New 2K digital restoration of Cairo as Seen by Chahine (1991), a short documentary by Youssef Chahine, with an introduction by film scholar Joseph Fahim New interview with Fahim Chahine . . . Why? (2009), a documentary on the director and Cairo Station Excerpt from Chahine’s appearance at the 1998 Midnight Sun Film Festival New English subtitle translation PLUS: An essay by Fahim New cover by Mariam El-Reweny William Boyle is the author of eight books set in and around the southern Brooklyn neighborhood of Gravesend, where he was born and raised. His most recent novel is Saint of the Narrows Street, available now from Soho Crime. His books have been nominated for the Hammett Prize, the John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger Award in the UK, and the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière in France, and they have been included on best-of lists in Washington Post, CrimeReads, and more. He currently lives in Oxford, Mississippi. Support: JOIN THE ONE HEAT MINUTE PATREON FOR AS LITTLE AS $1 A MONTH Follow the hosts: Blake Howard - Twitter & One Heat Minute Website Alexei Toliopoulos - Twitter & The Last Video Store Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/one-heat-minute-productions/exclusive-content Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy