The Thief and the Dogs

The film takes its inspiration from the novel of the same name by Naguib Mahfouz. Mahran is a thief who rises quickly to the head of his gang. His second in command conspires against him and takes both his place and his wife. When Mahran comes out of prison, revenge is all he wants. But the police and his new enemies are both after him, and his life becomes a matter of hiding. The film does not offer revenge as a solution; it shows it as a thing that narrows the man step by step. Black and white images and scenes of pursuit shape the form of the account. Shoukry Sarhan and Shadia appear in Kamal El Sheikh’s hundred and thirty minute Egyptian film, completed in 1962.