The Choice

A sailor who lived freely is found murdered, and the first suspect is his twin brother, a well known novelist. As the investigation goes on, a possible affair between the dead man and the writer’s wife comes to light. At the same time it becomes clear that the writer Sayed’s successful books fed on the adventurous life of his brother Mahmoud. Just as the evidence piles up against the writer, Mahmoud turns up alive. From there the film asks its real question: why are these twins never seen together. The account turns a crime plot into a matter of identity and sets the two brothers against each other. Ezzat Al Alaily, Soad Hosny and Mahmoud El Meligy appear in Youssef Chahine’s hundred and three minute Egyptian film, completed in 1971.