Watch a Fascinating Interview with Omar Sharif

[Music] is that yes arguably one of the most powerful film entrances of all time this is my well I have drunk from it you are welcome immediately it turned the little own Egyptian actor Omar Sharif into a Hollywood star this Basilio's know his having made Lawrence of Arabia with director David Lean in 1962 in 1965 lean cast him again as the soulful love cross dr. Zhivago and the rest as they say is history his silver screen stardom was assured then in 1968 he shocked the Arab world when he made love to a Jewish woman on screen in funny girl his native Egypt condemned him banning his films despite a lull in his career in recent years few have forgotten his arresting screen presence I'm actually thank you very much and welcome to foreign correspondent it's a pleasure to start with I guess coming back to movies if you like why did you stop making movies look I stopped making movies because for the last 25 years I've been making a lot of rubbish because I was in that all the time I you know I used to gamble quite a bit and then as always broke I was always one film behind my debts and so at some point you know I had to work all the time support my family and myself and and all my expensive tastes and then I decided it became ridiculous at some point it's go to the state where it's a stage where my own grandchildren used to make fun of my trips which is very serious what did I say to you they used to say the previous four most terrible grandfather but this one is even what it's so I decided it was time to stop and keep some dignity especially visa Vee my grandchildren and so I decided to wait for something decent to come something that I'd like that I'd feel enthusiastic about and then this little story was sent to me Tiffany mini-bosses I know I've found it very charming and beautiful and kind and gentle come on see she's a pathological affair simple don't burn us I could use a to be exigent eating the company top three feet you've been sipping up in the lush situation pure passion the powerful Bishop Sofia and I thought also it it was befitting for me as a well-known and beloved Arab personality to to make a statement about you know the relationship between the Arabs and the Jews with all the stuff that's happening in the violence not to say that it is possible to live together to love each other it's not impossible [Music] what was it about the character that appealed to most yeah it's it's the whole thing I mean it's the relationship between the old man and the child's about two lonely people this man has had it closer for maybe 50 years in the same streets it's a Jewish Street and it's he's a strange person because he sits there and he only exists when the boy walks in he doesn't talk to the other customers the fact that the boy is Jewish and the man is Muslim would be an irrelevant thing to the film if the film is not concerned with that problem at all in itself the story it's if the Jews and the if the Israelis and the Palestinians had made peace already it would be totally irrelevant the whole thing but where it's relevant it's because there is all that conflict between Israelis and Palestinians because other conflicts between Islam now and the rest of the world we're going toward the very dangerous people because we're cruising ahead towards the real war of the cells of cultures and civilizations and religion and the powerful Western countries always being on the on the side of Israel against the palaces I'm not saying that the you should first of all before they can solve the Palestinian and Jewish problem you have to get rid of both Sharon and Arafat Moscow these are two incompatible people they've hated each other for ages they're not going to start loving each other now they're not going to make deals together that's for sure did you believe that with America bankrolling effectively Israel and with the Arab world effectively backing the Palestinians is there a real way out of this right now there isn't I don't have any optimism about this nor in my lifetime nor in my son's lifetime I'm hoping that in my grandchildren's lifetime there will be peace you looked very closely over your life at the Middle East and politics why do you think the region is so riven with conflict well because I don't understand that the West doesn't understand up till now Islam I don't understand that countries which are advanced like the United States France whatever you have people of in two greatest universities to have been to Oxford and who learn about Islamism and all that have not yet understood that the Alps are tribal people there will never be democracy in our countries there will not be the most and that is not something bad democracy is not the panacea of the of all the best things in the world it depends if people have some education to be able to govern themselves to have knowledge the whole thing starts democracy starts with education you cannot be democratic when you are ignorant and illiterate are you saying that's because the level of education in the Middle East is not generally yet up to there they are not ready yeah because they're not the education and they have deep-rooted tribal sense a deep-rooted tribal sense Iraq is for there you have so many sects in Iraq even the Shiites are divided into the followers of Ben Assad are the followers of the three there are three or four big Imams both Shiites and who disagree with each other though Sunnis have differences between each other then we have all the Kurds and the Kurds fight each other you have two leaders Kurdish leaders they are tribes too so how do you want to come and say we are going to make democracy in this country what presumptuous stupid idea whoever had this idea that was not the idea of the world the idea of the world was to make a war and they chose the easiest place that they could be they why didn't they go and fight Korea or Iran which is a much more dangerous place and the most dangerous place of all is Pakistan because Pakistan one day it has already the nuclear arsenal at least have the army are Islamists and they will overthrow Musharraf one day and they will then have the atomic bomb that their disposal and then they will use it and they were the first thing they will do they will give some to burn Ladin because these tribal people are friends of bin Laden in the certain part of Pakistan where bin Laden is hiding you've never tribal areas in tribal areas in terms of France and the message about Jews and Muslims from the movie there does seem to be an increase at the moment in these anti-semitic attacks in France there's the debate over whether to ban by law the Muslim headscarf what's happening in France I think it's rather charged what will happen is that there will be a best over many Islamic schools in France you will not be able to stop that because they will get money from rich countries when they will hear about this at the French floor I'm out of through all the girls out of the school because they're wearing a headscarf they're going to make private Muslim schools for Muslims and then it becomes a problem it will become a much worse problem because now there will be it will be they will be divided there would be no chance of integration anymore born a Catholic converted to Islam at one point I mean what are your beliefs now I have none that I can prove I I believe in everything and then nothing I don't disbelieve in anything I mean everything is possible as far as my brain tells me I don't believe because I believe that God is justice the first thing that I was taught at Katz's catechism was that God is justice and I don't see justice in the world I see terrible injustice I saw my mother went on her deathbed she just died four years ago she was a great believer and I sat next to fifteen days well she suffered terribly before she died and I saw what relief she got from believing from calling the Virgin Mary from calling Jesus Christ to her from cornet calling st. Anthony of Padova who was her Saint favorite saying it relieves her pain and I used to think what shall I say on my deathbed who shall I call for help and I decided that I would call my mother for help that's what that say mother come and get me wherever you are the great passions the big passions of your life the gambling I never had the passion nor for gambling for anything else horses a little bit and that was the only passion and my work what was it I guess that attracted you to the gambling boredom III it was a lonely man living in out of suitcases in hotels and when you arrive in a new place and you don't know anyone the only place where you can go if you're a well-known person to have dinner alone is a casino you go to the scene you have dinner by yourself no one criticizes you and then you play a little bit to give yourself some emotion to fight the boredom of being by yourself get some excitement that's all have you found yourself lonely I mean you've been separated for what 40 years now and you've lived in the hotel and the kitchen is 35 years yes sometimes I'm lonely and sometimes I'm not if I was profoundly wrong if it bothered me loneliness I wouldn't be lonely I could have a girl I could have a woman with me I could have a companion if I wanted I wouldn't want someone's coming interfere with my my relationship with my friends and my my which wine she wants as opposed to which one I want I'm happy you're now almost 72 what is important to you now in life mate family I have not given I think enough time to my family because I was working a lot and traveling I never worked out of a base so my family is now my priority spend as much time as possible with them and if a good path comes along to give it all my attention [Music]

Channel: Journeyman Pictures

Views: 538,633

Keywords: Journeyman, Pictures, Australia, Paris, actor, interview, news, documentary, current affairs, journeyman, journeyman pictures, Omar Sharif

Id: dqr7d-OLPXI

Length: 12min 17sec (737 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 16 2008