Nour El Hoda

Tango of Yearning (1998) is the first episode of an autobiographical trilogy on postwar Lebanon, later including Nightfall (2000) and Civil War (2002). Taking its title from Tango of Hope, a classic ballad by Nur al-Huda, the film draws from the director’s reflections on war, love, and cinema, as well as his personal experience at the public television channel TéléLiban. Conjuring various snippets of audiovisual archival material, the film is a poetic elegy to film, Beirut’s movie theaters, and a city undergoing radical transformation. Mohamed Soueid has long been a proponent of the experimental video documentary movement in Lebanon, playing a significant role in the country’s creative renaissance since the end of the civil war. Originally trained as a news videographer during the war, the experience offered him a facility with the medium, which he further developed by making non-linear documentary films with a distinctly personal take.

Fouzy Pasha agrees with his daughter that whoever marries her must choose her for her person and love for her, not for her wealth. Indeed, Fouzy Pasha pretends to be bankrupt and even chooses a modest, popular residence and wanders the streets playing the piano while his daughter sings. Love brings his daughter together with a young man from a wealthy family, and the Pasha blesses this love.

Two chemists working at the same laboratory compete over the heart of the daughter of the laboratory owner. When the girl chooses one, the other gets jealous and ploys a scheme that aggravates and leads to a great explosion and an even greater tragedy.

When Arna'out Pasha learns that his son is married to a dancer in secret and that they have a child, he threatens to cut his son off. The son sends his family to Lebanon but as war breaks out, he loses contact with them.

An Egyptian poet has an affair with a dancer in a cabaret, but she does not pay attention to him or pay him any attention. However, he insists on chasing her. The young man suffers a psychological shock. The treating doctor advises him to travel to Lebanon until he regains his health. He stays in a hotel here, in the hotel. He meets a beautiful girl whom he loves, and it turns out that she is the hotel owner's daughter.

After the death of the girl's father, Berlanti, her means of life become more limited and her mother falls ill, so Berlanti is forced to work as a singer so that she can be treated. The lawyer Sami marries her, and as events unfold, Berlanti sees that she is standing in the way of Sami's success. She sacrifices her reputation so that he can leave her. He believes this and expels her. He marries the girl, Samiha, and as events develop, Berlanti is accused of murder.

Dorya is a young singer, who's in a romantic relationship with Hamdi, but Mstkawi is trying to keep them apart to win the heart of Dorya. He succeeds in keeping Hamdi away from Dorya, which turns her life upside down.