Perhaps a metaphor for Egypt’s identity crisis during Nasser’s modernization efforts in the 50’s and 60’s, Youssef Chahine’s fascinating Bab el Hadid (US: Cairo Station) combines the gritty naturalism of abject poverty with sexual psychopathy, gruesome violence, and a splash of melodrama to create a fascinating Arab version of film noir. The director himself plays Qinawi, a lame, lonely newspaper salesman at the train station who wears a filthy cap that’s practically disintegrating on his head. While he’s maintained a perverse friendship with the gorgeous, voluptuous, and narcissistic Hannuma (Hind Rostum aka “the Marilyn Monroe of the East”) who is engaged to the brawny porter Abu Siri (Farid Shawqi), Qinawi finds himself falling in love (or lust) with her, proposing to her, stalking her, and ultimately attacking her more than once. While the musical score feels haphazard at times, much of the cinematography is beautiful, such as when another female worker goes searching for Qinawi in the warehouse or the suspenseful finale on the train tracks. The sex and violence are unexpected from a film of this time and place (in one scene, it’s clear that Hannuma is turned on when Abu Siri beats her), which makes Cairo Station even more of a cinematic marvel.