Main Cast: Severn Darden, Anouk Aimée, Dirk Bogarde, Anna Karina, Philippe Noiret, Michael York
Release Year: 1969
Country: US
Run Time: 115 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Justine (Anouk Aimee) is a Jewish prostitute living in Egypt who manages to sleep her way to the top. Marrying a financial minister, Justine works her way up from her beginnings as a hooker, but continues to use her sexual allure as a tool to win her and her husband's ends. Along the way, she helps the Jews fight for their own homeland against the British and Arabs. The story is told from the perspective of the English nobleman Darley (Michael York), who first meets the temptress in 1938. The Jews in Egypt are continually pressured by the Moslem majority, who also persecute local Coptic Christians. Justine helps both Christians and Jews in Alexandria receive fair treatment despite religious and racial prejudice. Dirk Bogarde and Anna Karina also star in this story tinged with adultery, incest, homosexuality and religious and nationalistic fervor. This story is based on the novel Justine, one of four which comprise the Alexandria Quartet, by British diplomat and novelist Lawrence Durrell. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
William J. Creber - Art Director, Fred Harpman - Art Director, Jack Martin Smith - Art Director, Gernze de Lappe - Choreography, Aaron Haddad - Consultant/advisor, Irene Sharaff - Costume Designer, George Cukor - Director, Rita Roland - Editor, Jerry Goldsmith - Composer (Music Score), Dan Striepeke - Makeup, Ed Butterworth - Makeup, Leon Shamroy - Cinematographer, Pandro S. Berman - Producer, Raphael Bretton - Set Designer, Walter Scott - Set Designer, Arpad de Riso - Screenwriter, Lawrence B. Marcus - Screenwriter, Lawrence Durrell - Book Author
Set in Alexandria in 1938, a young British schoolmaster named Darley meets Pursewarden, a British consular officer. Pursewarden introduces him to Justine, the wife of an Egyptian banker. Darley befriends her, and discovers she is involved in a plot against the British, the goal of which is to arm the Jewish underground movement in Palestine. The plot fails, Justine is sent to jail, and Darley returns to England.
.jpg)
