(New York Times Magazine)

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At Venice Film Fest, Sharif gets lion's share of attention
Boston Herald, August 30, 2003
by STEPHEN SCHAEFER

VENICE, Italy - With a trio of '60s blockbuster films that have stood the test of time - "Lawrence of Arabia," "Doctor Zhivago" and "Funny Girl" - Egypt's Omar Sharif ruled as the most romantic of movie heroes, a throwback and successor to the silent-film king Rudolph Valentino.

Now silver-haired, the 71-year-old Sharif was honored with a Gold Lion for Lifetime Achievement yesterday at the Venice Film Festival, which coincided with the world premiere of his new movie, "Mr. Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Koran."

An unabashedly sentimental tale, "Ibrahim" will open in the United States before the end of the year and is being touted as the comeback that will earn him another Academy Award nomination, this time for Best Actor. His first Oscar nomination came with his 1962 debut in "Lawrence of Arabia."

Sharif, who stars in the new film with young French actor Pierre Boulanger, said he had thought his career might be over when he couldn't find good roles.

"I had an idea to stop working," Sharif said. "I hadn't made a film for five or six years before I made this film; I wasn't finding suitable parts.

"I always had that problem: I have an accent which is neither Italian, nor French, nor American nor English. Nor Spanish nor Mexican! So it was difficult to find parts . . . as an old man.

"When I was a young man and sold tickets, as it were, in the box office," he said, smiling, "they used to change parts to make them fit me or wrote parts for me. But when you're an old man, if the part is an old Italian, they take an old Italian actor who can do better than me.

"I have a nationality which is unique in international cinema: I'm an Egyptian and that has never existed before, and as I get older the parts become very difficult. This film which I decided to do, I play the part of an old Arab, which is what I am."

In the film, Boulanger plays the boy who meets Sharif's Mr. Ibrahim - which wasn't too different from how it played out in real life.

"Before this film, in fact, I had never really heard of Omar Sharif," Boulanger said, as Sharif, who was sitting next to him, laughed loudly.

"Perhaps it's the different generations," Boulanger said. "I wanted to find out who he was. I saw 'Doctor Zhivago' and 'Lawrence of Arabia,' and especially in 'Doctor Zhivago,' I realized what a great actor he was and he was an all-time giant in films."

Asked to name his own favorite, Sharif was anything but sentimental.

"I like 'Funny Girl,' but no one asks about it," he said. " 'Doctor Zhivago' I find too sentimental for my taste - and I know women like it. But I know 'Lawrence' will last longer; it has much more importance."
 

Aug. 30, 2003 Sharif roars with Golden Lion award VENICE, Italy -- Omar Sharif received a warm standing ovation from the Venice film festival audience Friday as he accepted a Golden Lion award for his career body of work. Venice festival director Moritz de Hadeln introduced a brief montage of excerpts from Sharif's long list of movies, notably "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Dr. Zhivago." "It's a great honor to receive this Golden Lion for a career that has been long and not always great," said a visibly delighted Egyptian-born Sharif in impeccable Italian.  -- Hollywood Reporter

Venice awards Omar Sharif Golden Lion for career

Reuters, August 29. 2003

VENICE, Italy - Film legend Omar Sharif, screen heartthrob of Doctor Zhivago and Lawrence of Arabia, was the toast of the Venice Film Festival Friday when he was awarded a Golden Lion lifetime achievement award.

"This is my 50th year of being a professional actor. That already is worth an award, just to survive 50 years," the Egyptian-born actor said ahead of the ceremony. 

The gold statue encased in a red satin box was presented to Sharif by the young co-star of his latest movie Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran (Mr Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Koran). The film, directed by France's Francois Dupeyron, premiered at the 60th edition of the festival.

A visibly moved Sharif, who was greeted by a standing ovation, entertained the crowd at the gala screening with stories of how his mother sent him to English school as a child hoping the bad English cooking would make him lose weight.

"If I were still fat and couldn't speak English, I wouldn't be here today," he said.

Sharif, born Michael Shalhoub in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1932, made a name for himself on the Egyptian movie scene before heading to Hollywood and leaping to fame in David Lean's classics. He has appeared in more than 80 movies over his long career, including some contemporary duds.

Images of the dark-eyed, handsome Sharif in Doctor Zhivago and Funny Girl as well as the whiskery old man in his new movie flashed across the screen during the ceremony.

In the new film Monsieur Ibrahim, Sharif plays a Muslim grocer who befriends Momo, a poor Jewish boy in a red light district of Paris whose companions are the prostitutes plying their trade along Rue Bleu.

Sharif said the movie marked a "comeback" for him. "I wasn't looking to work, but it's a miraculous script. ... For the last 25 years I haven't made anything decent."

When the impish Momo, 13, is abandoned by his father, Monsieur Ibrahim adopts him and together they travel to Ibrahim's native Turkey in a red convertible sports car.

The tender, beautifully shot film gently tackles religious and racial differences in 1960s France. Critics say it could be a candidate for the Oscars next year.

"It's a film of tolerance," said Sharif. "The only thing I'd like is that people are a bit happier, a bit kinder when they come out."

The famous ladies' man and gambler made headlines earlier this month when he was convicted of hitting a policeman at a casino near Paris and received a one-month suspended sentence.

Media reports said Sharif was arguing with the croupier while he played roulette before the policeman intervened.