Cairo Station is the film that put Chahine, Egypt’s answer to Alfred Hitchcock, on the international map. A masterpiece of social observation, florid melodrama and dark suspense, it has become a world classic combining Italian neorealism, Egyptian romanticism and film noir. The camera darts like a pickpocket through Cairo central station as porters strive to unionise, and all of Egyptian society swarms along the tracks. Maimed street vendor Qinawi (played by the director) feverishly desires a beautiful, utterly disinterested lemonade seller, and his fixation eventually crosses the threshold from innocent crush to dangerous obsession. A cinematic triumph - all human life is here.

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