"The film relates the experiences of an Egyptian family during the
occupation of Alexandria by Napoleon and his army, and the uneasy
friendship between a young Egyptian poet and one of Bonaparte's
advisers. The exigencies of a big budget co-production might have
accounted for a diminution in the great Chahine's poetry and power,
but there are some spectacular scenes and excellent performances,
notably from [Patrice] Chereau as a fanatical Bonaparte." - From The Faber
Companion to Foreign Films.
