The Destiny (1997): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 1997, The Destiny is a drama and history film directed by Youssef Chahine, running about 136 minutes.

What it’s about. In the 12th century's Andalusia lives Ibn Rushd a prominent Islamic philosopher with his wife Zeinab and daughter Salma. The principality is ruled by Khalifa ElMansour who has two sons, ElNasser, an intellectual that likes Ibn Rush and is in love with his daughter Salma. The younger son Abdallah is more into dancing and poetry, spending most of his times with the gypsy family and getting the daughter pregnant. The Khalifa is depending on the extremists to build his army granting them more power which they use to combat artists and philosophers. The extremists succeed in recruiting Abd Allah and train him to kill his father. Events go on where Marawan, the gypsy singer, is killed and Ibn Rushd's books are burnt. Adapted from the real life of Ibn Rushd AlMasir is Chahine's statement against extremism.

Who’s in it. The Destiny stars Hani Salama as Abdallah, Rogena as Salma, Layla Olwy as Manuella and Mohamed Mounir as The Bard, among others.

How it landed. With an audience score of 6.8/10, The Destiny has drawn a solid, mixed-to-positive response.

Where to watch. Streaming options change often. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch The Destiny page.

If you liked it. Fans of The Destiny tend to enjoy The Shawshank Redemption, The Godfather, Schindler's List and The Godfather Part II.