Synopsis
عودة الابن الضال
Freed after spending years in prison, an activist's homecoming turns into a dark affair as his disillusion clashes with his family's expectations. Demonstrating Chahine’s eclecticism, this is an elegant melodrama, exuberant musical, layered allegory, and profound portrait of personal and political disillusionment.
The 1970s Other Asia Landscape
1976 was the decade’s peak output year for Other Asia — 4 titles released, including Return of the Prodigal Son. Bars below show how the 1970s stacked up year by year (17 total).
Drama + Music in Other Asia
6 Other Asia titles in our catalog blend the Drama and Music genres. Below: the top-rated of them (excluding Return of the Prodigal Son itself).
Position in Catalog
Released alongside 3 other Other Asia films in 1976.
The 32nd Other Asia title from Other Asia we index (earliest catalogued entry: 1949).
Our Other Asia catalog contains 547 titles in total (522 films).
Audience Engagement
17 audience reviews — more than 51% of Other Asia films in our index.
Popularity (80th percentile) outruns review volume (51th) — a trending, discussed title among Other Asia films.
Reception Benchmarks
Ranked #462 of 547 Other Asia films indexed here (16th percentile by TMDB audience score).
Rating is -0.9 points below the Other Asia average of 6.6/10.
Among Other Asia Drama productions specifically: #326 of 356 (top 92%).
Production Details
| Primary Country | Other Asia |
|---|---|
| All Production Countries | Algeria, Egypt |
| Original Language | Arabic |
| Production Companies | Office National pour le Commerce et l'Industrie Cinématographique (ONCIC), MISR International Films |
| Runtime | 2h 4m |
| Release Date | September 24, 1976 |
| IMDb | tt0074168 |