The Yacoubian Building
by Marwan Hamed
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DVD details
Actor: Adel Imam, Ahmed Bedir, Ahmed Rateb, Nour El Sherif, YousraDirector: Marwan Hamed
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: Arabic (Original Language); English (Subtitled)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 165 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-01-29
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Strand Releasing
DVD Reviews of The Yacoubian Building
DVD Review: Excellent Quality. Good Story. Sad Clich?s.
Summary: 4 Stars
As an Egyptian who has long given up on the quality and substance of Egyptian films, I was pleasantly surprised to see this movie. The production quality was superb and the acting was good (not stellar; just good.) The characters are embodied well by the actors. They are believable as well as sympathetic. For that, I give the film 5 stars.
However, I was very disappointed at the clich?d portrayals of the homosexual character in the film. I don't want to give the story away, but suffice it to say, the character's story concludes with a sad clich? that plays to the moral norm in the Egyptian society more than its reality.
This version of the film has English subtitles and the DVD packaging is somewhat lacking. I was hoping for a decent booklet inside the case, but instead I got a single sheet of the poster on one side and a blank white page on the back of it.
Again, it's leaps and bounds better than any Arabic film I've seen in a long time. Well done.
DVD Review: Great quality, lacking content
Summary: 4 Stars
I read the Arabic book on which this film is based, and so was looking forward to watching the film. The quality of this product, as well as the artistic production of the film were fantastic. However, the alterations made to the plot were unimpressive, and the lack of character development was disappointing. Also, the film is exhaustingly and unnecessarily long. Still, a good buy overall. DVD Review: Is Egypt Going Through a Sexual Revolution?
Summary: 5 Stars
In the late 1990s, I asked an Egyptian doctor, "Is Egypt going through a sexual revolution?" The 40-year-old doctor taught Salsa dancing and refused to be interviewed by a TV journalist doing a report on Salsa because he didn't want his parents to know of his sinful past-time. It wasn't only sinful Salsa dancing that cued me. I knew of students at the American University in Cairo who would sneak into their family's summer homes to have unlawful relations with girlfriends. An Egyptian colleague at the university was doing his Sociology dissertation on Egyptian male prostitutes in Sharm al Shaik on the Red Sea coast, providing services for European women.
This all characterized my evening friends. While my mornings were spent with the rowing teams on the other side of the Nile. There, women were not permitted to wear sleeveless T-shirts while exercising and the biggest debate was on which rowing clothing would permit women to respect the veil while competing for their university rowing team. On that side of the Nile, my teammates stopped practice to pray as a group on mats outside the boathouse.
This movie captures all these contradictions and more. During the three years I lived in Egypt, I danced salsa frequently with Egyptians and Latinos on boats that roamed around the Nile at night. We danced on the upper deck under the stars and it was heavenly. Then one day, the newspaper announced that one of these night Nile-going ships was a gay bar and hundreds were arrested for their "sinful" conduct.
All these memories flooded back as I watched this fictional movie that reflects the real tensions and cultural confusion in Cairo. It's a marvelous movie.
DVD Review: the Yacoubian Building
Summary: 5 Stars
I read the book by the same title and was so impressed that I bought it.
Most films made from a book are less than impressive, but this one is true to the book in spirit and in fact. The acting is excellent, I bought this DVD because the film will probably never be shown in our cinemas, more's the pitty, because just to see Cairo in its inner workings, according to the author, is fascinating. I never saw this DVD in rental stores, buy and enjoy it and watch it over and over, it is an interesting film.
DVD Review: Raihin fen ?Were are we heading?
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased this film with apprehension, upon request of many of my friends to see it.I am an Italian born in that era of post Nasser ism,and decided to follow the advise of my friends.
At first I thought it was going to be a boring movie, with some vulgarities.Moving along with the film I began to see issues that have never been seen in the Egypt that I lived.I left Egypt in 1974.Homosexuality,and other issues of this film were taboo in those days.It seems no more,which I think it is better than being in the closet.
The religious fanaticism was something that I never saw as clear as in this movie.I am a Catholic therefore going to the mosque was not something I did.It is very interesting as to how they recruit young people.Very smart,searching for those people who have been let down by society.
The old Pasha days are gone of course.The cleanliness of the country,the freedom,the society itself.And yet with all that is said and done Egyptian people are very kind hearted and friendly.The movie also tells the story of a young sales girl what she has to do to get a couple of pounds extra.That I am not sure it is true, but it could be.People are struggling all across the country until today.If you want to follow more as to what is going on in Egypt read the El Ahram newspaper online.I enjoyed seeing this movie very much as many of us born in Egypt and leaving overseas rekindle the days that were,and will never come again.
Description of The Yacoubian Building
An eye-catching construction, the Yacoubian Building in Cairo was long regarded as the last word in comfort and elegance. Nowadays the veneer has cracked and the shine has dulled to reveal the truth underneath the fa?ade. Through interwoven stories of a number of the residents, the film paints a portrait of corruption, fundamentalism, prostitution, homosexuality, and drugs in central Cairo and creates a vibrant but socially critical picture of contemporary Egypt.General DVDs
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