The first of four semi-autobiography films, entitled “Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man,” Alexandria, Why? Focuses on a precocious adolescent, whose dreams and colorful attempts to become an actor unfold against the vivid backdrop of Alexandria during World War II. A rich cast inspires Chahine’s young thespian hero with a wealth of dramatic subplots – at turns hilarious at others touching – about wartime life. The autobiographical nature and nostalgic flavor of Alexandria, Why? Makes it one of Chahine’s most accessible works, a charming and entertaining film that also delivers a potently subversive and impassioned anti–war message.