Film scholar Joseph Fahim describes director Youssef Chahine’s 1958 crime thriller Cairo Station (باب الحديد) as a film that failed to connect with audiences and was viewed as a failure upon its initial release. He also states that the film is now being re-evaluated, that while the film itself is no different now than it was then, audiences are more receptive to Chahine’s intention, his meshing of genres, and direction. From a film preservation perspective, films deserve the opportunity of rediscovery for exactly this purpose as sometimes a film that doesn’t discover its audience immediately may do so with time and care. Enter The Criterion Collection with their 4K digital restoration of Chahine’s Cairo Station, released with a collection of supplemental materials new (including this interview with Fahim) and archival, each designed to enhance the viewing experience.
Youssef Chahine as Kenawi in CAIRO STATION. Photo courtesy of The Criterion Collection.
The train station of Cairo is a bustling area between the travelers coming and going, the workers trying to keep things flowing, and the buskers attempting to survive. Among them is Kenawi (Chahine), a newspaper seller working for newsstand operator Madbouli (Hassan El Baroudi), who longs to be married to soda busker Hanuma (Hind Rostom) but finds himself shunned at every opportunity. Kenawai’s advances are rebuffed due to the fact that Hanuma is engaged to Cairo Station porter Abu Serih (Farid Shawki), but also because she finds Kenawai somewhat repugnant, though she occasionally makes use of his infatuation to her advantage. However, as the date of her marriage grows closer, Kenawi’s infatuation turns dangerous to a point of no return.
What follows is a review of the Blu-ray retail edition provided by The Criterion Collection.
L-R: Youssef Chahine as Kenawi and Hind Rostom as Hanuma in CAIRO STATION. Photo courtesy of The Criterion Collection.
Chahine’s film is a complex work as it seeks to balance a number of tones and concepts with a small and widening ensemble of players. The central storyline focuses on Kenawi, the torment he receives from the other employees at the station for both his physical injury (limp) and status (poor); the B plot involves Abu Serih’s attempts to unionize the porters and other employees of the station to improve all things for all members; and a C plot storyline of unrequited love that surprisingly dovetails into the conclusion of the film. Each one of these factors into the rising desire within Kenawi toward malevolence as everyone but him seems to have what they need, a sense that makes Kenawi somewhat sympathetic, even if he’s entirely in the wrong. Chahine never once tries to position Kenawi as a maligned hero or even an anti-hero, but as a protagonist whose frustrations we can understand even when we absolutely don’t agree with them. For instance, the various sequences in which Kenawi is caught, either by us or someone in the film, leering at a woman — these are quite uncomfortable as Chahine (To Each His Own Cinema) makes no attempt in his performance or as director to position the character as anything other than hungerly looking at women whom do not invite such glances. It would be oh so easy to see Kenawi as someone with merely a lustful heart when, in truth, he’s seeking connection and lacks the social skills and confidence to find a true love like the one from the C plot. Instead, as written by Abdel Hay Adib (Too Young For Love), Kenawi is too caught up in the woman he can’t have and she, Hanuma, despite making her desires clear, must still try not to upset Kenawi because, as a man, he has just a few more rights than she. (This, of course, speaks to the era and its view of women who are frequently blamed and abused in the film for the appearance that they led on a male, regardless of the purity of the man doing the leering.) At no point do we ever cross from sympathy into agreement, at least we shouldn’t and it doesn’t appear as though Chahine himself ever does, which is what makes Cairo Station remain on ethical footing even as its conclusion meets the then-expected moral climax. Impressively, even with the various characters and their interlocking arcs, the script manages to create clearly defined individuals so that we never lose track of their needs, their intentions, and what they come to represent within the narrative. More than all this, and it’s a tad refreshing and unexpected, is how Rostom (Rumor of Love) makes Hanuma fleshed out not just in her scenes away from both Kenawi and Abu Serih, but how the performer conveys the complexity of Hanuma’s position with mere glances. Once such scene being late in the film in which she is hurriedly trying to sell soda on a train before she’s caught by local police, laughing it up with the progressive band that’s aboard the car when she spots Kenawi watching her. With a series of physical adjustments, we observe Rostom have Hanuma go through shock/surprise, disquiet/discomfort, and then make the choice to switch to joy; an acknowledgement that keeping Kenawi on her good side will help keep her out of trouble. This isn’t manipulative, but a survival technique and a necessary one at that.
L-R: Hind Rostom as Hanuma and Farid Shawki as Abu Serih in CAIRO STATION. Photo courtesy of The Criterion Collection.
Whether this is a rewatch or a first-time discovery, the film on the whole looks and sounds good, albeit with a few issues on the audio track. According to the booklet included with the release, the 4K digital restoration (note that this is a high-definition restoration and not a 4K UHD restoration) was supervised by Lee Kline and Giles Sherwood with video restoration completed by Prasad Corporation in Burbank, California, and audio restoration completed by Criterion themselves. The 4K digital restoration video was created off the 35 mm original camera negative while the audio track was remastered from the original soundtrack negative. The video itself looks quite good with no noticeable wear, grime, or distortions in the black-and-white presentation, though the audio track does have the occasional redlining and there’re a few instances in which the audio doesn’t full sync with the actions (the climax by the train, in particular). This is likely a baked-in issue from the original mastering that couldn’t be rectified or cleaned up in the remaster. Otherwise, for a 67-year-old film, there’s little to complain about.
L-R: Youssef Chahine as Kenawi and Farid Shawki as Abu Serih in CAIRO STATION. Photo courtesy of The Criterion Collection.
Be advised that the supplemental materials are of a different video quality. While the aforementioned 27-minute interview with Fahim is 1080 p HD and looks quite modern (advanced, especially compared to the film), the 1991 supplemental Cairo as Seen by Chahine is in 2K HD. This 24-minute short doc was produced for French television and dives into the original banning of the film by the French government and the change in reception then-to-now. Also included is a 25-minute archival documentary by Mona Ghandour from 2009 titled Chahine . . . Why? which includes interviews with Chahine, Hay Adib, and actors Rostom and Shawki discussing the production of the film. As always, the release is supported by a new essay, also written by Fahim which contextualizes Chahine’s work within Egyptian cinema, a field of films rivaling those of Hollywood and Bollywood yet aren’t given similar recognition. This is, of course, separate yet overlapping with Fahim’s interview in which he provides some history on Chahine as a filmmaker, including his time in America, his prior films, and his legacy.
Packaging for this release follows the standard Criterion model with a clear plastic case, new art on the front cover (this time by Mariam El-Reweny and depicting a smiling Hanuma standing between the cold staring eyes of Kenawi), and an inside liner with a variety of stills from the film.
Youssef Chahine as Kenawi in CAIRO STATION. Photo courtesy of The Criterion Collection.
When it comes to film preservation, it does no one any good to put down or to yuck someone else’s yum when we can lift up. There’s absolutely a place for titles like the live-action Teenage Mutant Turtles trilogy and Spawn (1997) to be getting 4K UHD restoration (in this case via Arrow Video) and underseen or less conventional titles like Through and Through (1973) via Radiance Films. In both cases, films are being served to an existing audience and the only ones being underserved are the incurious, the vanguard of safety, and the delusional who think that cinema only began when they started appreciated it. In this way, Criterion’s restoration of Cairo Station is an opportunity to explore not just a film from a different era, but a different culture and perspective whose influence is decidedly American and whose narrative remains potent in a time wherein men are still being valued higher than women. While the narrative itself may not seem imaginative in the current era, what it sought to accomplish in 1958 is no less impressive and an important work for cinephiles to be aware of.
Cairo Station Special 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 (23:55/5:55)
- *NEW* interview with film scholar Joseph Fahim (27:31)
- Chahine . . . Why? (2009), a documentary on the director and Cairo Station (25:01)
- Excerpt from Chahine’s appearance at the 1998 Midnight Sun Film Festival (11:04)
- *NEW* English subtitle translation
- PLUS: An essay by Fahim
- *NEW* cover by Mariam El-Reweny
Available on Blu-ray and DVD August 12th, 2025.
For more information, head to the official The Criterion Collection Cairo Station webpage.
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Categories: Home Release, Home Video, Recommendation, Reviews
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