the film is essentially a fictional biography of a self-centred, chain-smoking, highly-strung, radical realist film-maker named yehia choukry mourad. it opens with him having a heart attack while directing a film. he is convinced to go to london for diagnosis and, subsequently, a heart bypass. the day before the operation, he spends time with his chauffeur. the film was daring for implying a homosexual attraction between the two men. homoerotic tension was created by knowing glances that are exchanged between yehia and the taxi driver.