Yacoubian Building (film review)_______________ فيلم عمارة يعقوبيان
Today I saw a nice movie called ”Yacoubian Building“ which was shown lately in the Berlin Film Festival and in other international festivals abroad.
Wahid Hamed tried to be as faithful as possible to the bestselling novel by Dr.Alaa El Aswany ...but the real challenge was the way the young and talented director Marwan Hamed decided to present the characters.He used clever tricks to jump from one story to another, yet giving each storyline all their aspects and details without losing control.
All the big stars (Adel Emam,Hend Sabry, Nour El Sherif , Esaad Yunus , Somaya El Khashab and the others) have done a great job , but the real star was the son of Adel Emam.His character was developing during the whole story and his acting was improving scene after scene.
He reached the peak when he was crying and screaming in the prison after being savagely tortured.
Khaled Al Sawy tried to do what he can to present the homosexual character in the movie (as many actors refused to do the role), but his overreactions in many scenes made the character fragile and somehow funny (which was not the case in the novel). 
The costume design and light was superb, giving the film a touch of beauty and glamour.
The Cinematography was almost perfect.
The only things that I did not like was the score by Khaled Hammad… it did not add anything to the atmosphere but rather masked the dialogue between the actors...and that the movie was too long ( I think more than 160 minutes).
Marawan Hamed has elegantly put many symbols and hints in this picture…but will the ordinary Egyptian viewers understand them…I hope so...because it will open their eyes and minds to issues they did not know (and others do not want them to know ).
It is the most expensive film ever made in Egypt, it is the film that has broken box office records after release and it is the film that may compete with other international films in the upcoming Oscar nominations 2007 for best foreign films.
Did you enjoy reading the novel…(not) really.
Did you enjoy watching the film…yes I did.
Is our life a melodrama as shown in the film...no doubt.
Is this film only for adults...yes it is.
If you want to see the secret of Egypt… go and see “ Yacoubian Building”.
4 comments:
I believe I enjoyed reading the book ten times more than watching the movie which was quite a dissapointment, not as thrilling as the story. So many important meaningful details were not included in the movie & were replaced by less important ones that makes the story lose it's original meaning & it's beauty.
I'm sure that film could have been alot better. The original story deserves it.
The beauty of a novel is based on the ability of the reader to imagine , I imagined Abdu , Bethina , Taha and Dawlat as shown in the film,and for me this is a success,maybe you have imagined them in another way,and of course it is very difficult to present all the details and events mentioned in the novel in one film ,maybe in a mini series,but at least I got the clear message the novel wanted to say in one film and the film has influenced me more than the novel ,and this is also a success.
The novel is for sure a good novel,and that is why I have read it 3 years ago,but somehow I had the feeling that this is not the real Egypt that I know,some characters were somehow artificial,but I changed my mind when I saw the film.
This film is dedicated to the ordinary Egyptian citizen,the novel is more for the enlightened people.
i saw the movie and i really like it. So i'm gonna read the novel. i like Zaki bey and i think i have seen him in the gruppi cafe early morning having his coffe there , really Adel emam is so honest and reall that i really loved him and felt pitty for him and for my self , it's really hard to have a brain, heart, and honor in the country now. and i think this is what the movie is a bout what u will sell to live brain or ur heart or ur hounor or all ? otherwise u will be like Zaki .
i like the end but what i don't like that hatem got killed just for being gay ,and i'm sure it's not in the novel this just for the public to be happy. go and see the movie at least it make u feel that u are not the only one who is suffering and think of your self if u would choose to be one of them which one u would be ? i would be Zaki and i have many things in commen but i'm only 26 but my frds say that i belong to the 60 just coz i have a brain and a heart and i act as a princess.
zeina,you seem to be a wonderful person,try to enjoy life as much as you can,and do not listen to others,we do not have many years left.
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