The Shame

Ali Abdel-Khalek's 1982 Egyptian film follows three brothers who take over their father's business after his death. They learn that the source of the fortune is the drug trade; one is a doctor, one a prosecutor, one a businessman. The question is whether they can refuse the inheritance. Each wants to protect his own position; the narrative keeps the moral argument going but leaves no one clean, and the money draws them all in. Nour El-Sherif, Mahmoud Abdel Aziz and Hussein Fahmy play the brothers. The film drew wide attention in Egyptian cinema in the eighties and is remembered for its social criticism. The close is hard. Who it's for: those who like classic Egyptian drama and narratives of conflict within a family. Who it's not for: viewers expecting a hopeful close; the film carries none of the three to safety.