Saladin the Victorious 1963

Jerusalem sits under European Christian rule, a tense city where the Crusaders’ grip on the holy land is challenged from within. The ruthless Crusader Raynald of Châtillon Ahmed Loxer orders the slaughter of Muslim pilgrims to loot caravans, defiantly ignoring protests from the Christian King of Jerusalem Guy of Lusignan. In response, Saladin Ahmed Mazhar gathers the resolve to reclaim the holy lands in a campaign that seems almost impossible in its scope and tempo. The film builds toward the pivotal Battle of Hattin, where Saladin’s tactics and betrayal of expectations yield a crushing defeat for the Crusaders; Raynald and Guy are captured, and Raynald loses his life in single combat. With the fall of their stronghold, Saladin reclaims Jerusalem, a victory that jolts Europe into action and stirs a new wave of mobilization for a Third Crusade, driven in part by Raynald’s treacherous widow Virginia Laila Fawzy. The assembled forces of the French king Omar Al-Hariri and the English under Richard the Lionheart Hamdy Ghaith fail to recapture the city, and Saladin’s defenses, alongside diplomatic maneuvers, ensure that Jerusalem remains in Muslim hands.

Amidst this grand, geopolitical stage, a more intimate thread unfolds. Saladin’s Christian commander Issa El Awwam Salah Zulfikar forms a fragile bond with Louisa de Lusignan Nadia Lotfi, a Hospitaller who begins as an adversary but becomes a nurse and ally. Their relationship begins in a tense moment near Lake Tiberias, when Issa discovers Louisa at night near a Crusader encampment; after she shoots an arrow at him and escapes, their destinies become entangled. Issa spares Louisa’s life twice, and she ultimately renounces her Crusader identity to stay with him as the couple’s life intertwines with the broader war. Louisa’s conversion from foe to partner highlights the film’s quieter, human core amid grand battles and shifting loyalties.