Chahine mixes documentary and fiction to create a portrait of Egypt’s bustling capital and a major center of the Arab world. The view of Cairo that emerges is a chaotic jumble of poverty, overcrowding, opulence and surging religious intolerance that results in a kaleidoscopic image recalling silent-era “city symphonies” and Fellini’s Roma.

Chahine mixes documentary and fiction to create a portrait of Egypt’s bustling capital and a major center of the Arab world. The view of Cairo that emerges is a chaotic jumble of poverty, overcrowding, opulence and surging religious intolerance that results in a kaleidoscopic image recalling silent-era “city symphonies” and Fellini’s Roma.