Peter G
The much used plot of a teacher‘s interaction with a talented pupil is not as shallow or predictable as some critics would have it. Without spoiling the outcome let me just say that in one sense the story is headed in a certain direction but with a satisfying yet open ended & realistic resolution. What is most interesting though & makes the film worth seeing are the characterizations of Hannah Herzsprung & the late Monica Bleibtreu in which these two actresses give complex performances worthy of their reputations. They overcome some of the less credible moments in the script but musical purists be warned since the treatment of the Schumann piano concerto will do more than raise a few eyebrows. A consistently involving character driven film in German language with subtitles.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
01/13/24
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Audience Member
The most well written and directed Egyptian movie in history.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
02/26/23
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Audience Member
O Yacoubian é um dos edifícios mais antigos e charmosos do centro do Cairo. A rotina dos moradores sintetiza a atual sociedade egípcia: Zaki El Dessouki (Adel Imam) é um playboy decadente, mas que mantém a pose. Sua vizinha Bothayna (Hend Sabri), jovem pobre, precisa ceder às investidas do patrão para sustentar a família. O jornalista Hatem (Khaled El Sawy) usa seu dinheiro para seduzir um segurança. Baseado em romance homônimo de Alaa Al Aswany, best-seller no Egito.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
02/19/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Long but entirely absorbing film of a book I hadn't read (have I ever read an Egyptian novel? It's a familiar enough device - this famous old Cairo building housing a cross-section of the fading upper-class Egyptian society.
This was the most expensive film made in Egypt, and the biggest box-office hit. Whatever shortcomings the film has, what makes it so compulsive is that it shows a diverse group of Egyptians (the inhabitants of the Yacoubian Building) at the time of the first Gulf War and so before the 'Arab Spring' and rehearses some of the themes, which have subsequently become manifest. These themes of old and new, modernism and tradition, and the fact that they were in a popular movie in Mubarak's Egypt, may give many of us cause to reflect on our ignorance. The book was published in 2002; the film released in 2006.
How did an Egyptian audience react to the portrayal of the seduction of simple, married, conscript soldier by the sophisticated gay editor of a respected newspaper? Of the soldier's wife's incomprehension? I wish I knew. "How" asks the pretty young girl of her increasingly conservative boyfriend, moving towards the (not actually named) Brotherhood "can it work out for us? I wear a mini-skirt and you are becoming a traditionalist." OK the building as an Egyptian microcosm is sometimes a tad too in-your-face, but the girl going off with the old guy in the end is achingly optimistic. Some of us, (sigh!), may suspect perhaps a little unrealistic too.
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
02/13/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Great book about Egypt.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
01/25/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Egypt: political intrigue, prostitution, police brutality, homosexuality, multiple wives, religion, sexual harassment, blackmail, abortion, jihadists, madness, adultery, paparazzi, drugs, pedophiles, bribes, poverty, perversions, extramarital affairs, abandonment, love, lust, loneliness, murder, betrayal, scheming, irony, torture, battle,blood bath, revenge, death, misery, forgiveness, wedded bliss and jealousy. All this in almost three hours (in arabic with half illegible subtitles, rather challenging!) Brave and fascinating film. Would have merited the film club screening!!
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
01/19/23
Full Review
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