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Kas wa lask (2006)
A non-typical Egyptian movie about a typical story
This movie portrays the by-now well known problems that face the young men and women in contemporary Egypt, typically in employment and marriage, sometimes in a subtle and very touching manner, through the different stories of its main six or so characters.
The plot is by no mean a new one. The movie quickly reminded me of "Love on Top of the Pyramids" or "Hobb Fawqa Hadhabatil Haram" and many other movies that tackled the same problems. However, this movie does not scream out its message (though I felt it was sometimes directly presented to the audience), as opposed to most Egyptian movies that engage in direct, obvious and repetitive lecturing, where nothing is left to the intellect, let alone the imagination, of the viewer. The scenes of Fat'hy Abdul-Wahab going around throughout the movie with his portfolio, which has failed to get him a job contract, even in the scenes with his new girl friend at night, was enough to pass on a sad, even depressing, message to the audience. Interestingly (for an Egyptian/Arab movie), no words or commentary are offered by the characters on this paradox.
The story line was quite engaging from the very first minute, where the two main characters accidentally met in the midst of their struggle to make a living, each in his/her own different way.
The title of the movie speaks volumes! You don't need to watch it for long to get the feeling that there will be no happy ending to any of its stories or events - actually no ending at all! There's always something missing. The characters (and us) are always left with a sense of dissatisfaction. Unaccomplished goals and incomplete deals. Jamila (or Gamila to say/write it the Egyptian way!) buys an expensive parrot only to find it is a normal, cheap bird and so she cannot sell it for the price she was hoping to sell it for. She works on selling a mobile only for her mother to take hold of it. Almost nothing in the movie works out. The only thing that does, is what hasn't been planned for.
Finally, almost all actors in the movie did a great job, including Gamila's friend in her very first role. Very natural performance!
Well done to a clever director and a very talented cast.
Fi shaket Masr El Gedeeda (2007)
It's what's missing...
This is a great romantic film that touches your heart in a delicate manner unlike most other modern-day Egyptian movies. It is the collaborative work of the renowned director, Muhammad Khan, and his wife, the scenarist, Wisam Sulaiman. The love relationship of the newly married couple (director and screenwriter) reflects beautifully in the above film.
The film is the story of Nagwa, a beautiful shy woman in her late 20s, who travels from her hometown, Al-Minya, to Cairo (the capital city of Egypt) for the first time in her life only to look for her beloved childhood teacher, Tahany. Teacher Tahany had inspired Nagwa and her classmates in a nuns' school, a long time ago, with her talks about love and love songs. She (the teacher) was later kicked out of the school because of her alleged bad influence on children. For many years, Nagwa keeps in touch with her teacher through letters (conventional handwritten letters, not emails - you know, the ones people used to send by post!).
Nagwa arrives in Cairo only to find that her childhood teacher mysteriously disappeared from her flat in Masr El-Gideeda (Heliopolis - a large leafy suburb in Cairo), which is now occupied by a new tenant, Yahya, a handsome, practical, busy young man who works in the stock market. An interesting chain of events take place that result in Nagwa missing her train trip (back to her hometown) at least a couple of times and prevent her from returning with her colleagues as previously planned. A story gently evolves between Nagwa and Yahya, two characters who live in totally different worlds.
Throughout the film we listen to good old love songs of Layla Murad and Umm Kalthoum, and the beautiful piano music of Tamer Karawan. We hear the love stories and dreams of the young and old characters in the film.
The film is a 'cleansing' and refreshing experience - a temporal recovery from all the rubbish, violence and cheap material we are bombarded with on the silver screen. It is definitely one of those movies that will stay in your memory for a long time after you watch it, and you will be compelled to watch it again and again.
In modern standards, this is not your usual romantic movie. We don't see the typical love scenes, not even kisses! In fact, the only intimate 'bedroom' scenes in the film are for Yahya and a colleague of his, who used to drop by at his apartment, and with which he had no love relationship!
If you're after nudity or action, this film is not for you.
The script is in Arabic (Egyptian dialect). DVDs (at least the one I bought) will usually have subtitles in English and (possibly) other languages.