The Yacoubian Building (2006)

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 façade. 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. Product Description

Superb realistic plot

For someone who knows Cairo and Alexandria, as a foreigner, the story told here of different levels of society and their intrigues, successes, and failures it is a fascinating and compelling film. June 19, 2008

Modern Egyptian life

If you have any interest in modern Egyptian or Middle Eastern culture, you really should see this film if you haven't already. The movie is based on the best selling novel of the same name published in Egypt several years earlier. The residents of the Yacoubian building are intended to be a microcosm of modern Egyptian society and covers most of the significant themes and problems in Egyptian life today, with a profound sense of nostalgia for the more cosmopolitan Cairo of pre-Nasser Egypt. Many of these themes are highly controversial, such as homosexuality, and couldn't even be mentioned in most other Middle Eastern countries. One of the main characters falls into the arms of radical Islam out of utter dispair. You'll get a much better understanding of that here than you'll ever get from Syriana. The acting is top notch.


April 25, 2008

True reflections

I enjoyed this movie a lot. It truely reflects how society changed over time in Eygpt. It also reflects the real life in Eygpt more than any other Eygption movie.

The acting is excellent. All aspects of of it are great. Serious Comedy. No body should miss the oppotunity to watch it. April 6, 2008

Controversial Egyptian Movie

This is a classic Egyptian movie, with an all star cast such as Adel Imam and Noori Sharif. The story depicts the contemporary life style of Egypt and the story is told through the lives of all the different tenants that live in the building. One of the tenants has a controversial story which focuses on a gay Egyptian professional and his encounters with other men. Its a great way to get a feel for Egyptian life and perspective on current affairs. Very entertaining for those who are feeling nostalgic of Egyptian life. March 18, 2008

Faithful to the excellent book

Two summers ago while I was binge reading international literature I was led to a book titled The Yacoubian Building by Alaa el-Aswany, an Egyptian dentist. Written in Arabic in 2002, with an English translation in 2004, it is an incredible book. It is set in Cairo in the early 1990's. My initial interest was that it was reported to be the first Egyptian best-seller with a gay main character, and even a gay bar. It is so much more.

Last night (2/16/2008) I watched the movie version of the book, now available with English subtitles. They did a remarkable job of faithfully bringing this vast and complicated story to screen.

The character Taha, led to fundamentalist extremism by the corruption and despair of the day, should be of most interest to an American audience, his movie portrayal being neither harsh, nor sympathetic, just a representation of a generation, as a defining statement of fact.

The characters of Zaki and Haj serve to put the story into a historical perspective that is unknown to most in the West, yet with a plotline of political corruption that should be universally recognized by any student of history.

There are several main characters who are women, reflecting the entire spectrum of personal emancipation. Yet, I could not begin to analyze the story from a feminist perspective; there is just too much material there for me to digest.

My one and only criticism of the movie is its portrayal of the gay character, Hatim Rasheed, a newspaper editor. Apparently, to not make the movie even longer than it is, developing the Hatim role is shortchanged to give viewers only the sensational, an error not made in el-Aswany's book.

That said, the book and the movie should be on the reading list for those of us confused and anguished by the Islamic world - it is not an answer, but it partial explanation.
February 17, 2008

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