The Yacoubian Building details
| Format: | 15 DVD |
|---|---|
| Starring: | Adel Imam, Nour El-Sherif, Youssra, Essad Youniss, Ahmed Bedir, Hend Sabri, Khaled El Sawy, Khaled Saleh |
| Director: | Marwan Hamed |
| Genres: | Drama, Gay/Lesbian - General, World Cinema - Middle East |
| Studio: | ICA |
| Name | Discs | |
|---|---|---|
The Yacoubian Building |
15 Feature |
DVD Information
| Run time: | 2 hours 41 minutes |
|---|---|
| Rental release: | Currently unavailable |
| Main languages: | Arabic |
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Most helpful review
Sprawling, messy ... and occasionally great
By brixtonite (7 reviews) from London , 20 May 2008[Highly rated reviewer]
Despite a virtual roll-call of bleak current-affairs concerns (fundamentalism, prostitution, sexual harassment, adultery, homosexuality, domestic violence, political corruption, drug-dealing, torture, you name it...), THE YACOUBIAN BUILDING is actually like nothing so much as an Arab version of those hysterically overblown Latin American soap 'novelas' which go on for ever. Even Brookside was never like this...
It's not particularly visually ravishing, and it certainly isn't a model of how to structure or edit a film - like the Cairo in which it's set, this movie sprawls all over the place and has long stretches where nothing valuable seems to happen at all. But (again like Cairo) it's stuffed with gems: some wonderful performances, especially from Adel Imam as the world-weary rake and roue 'Pasha' and Khaled Saleh as a wonderfully roguish and sinister State Security man, an astonishingly frank head-on approach to some of its 'big issues', and an overall sense that it's a love letter to an impossible city.
THE YACOUBIAN BUILDING - both the film and the novel it's based on - caused a huge stink (and a huge splash) in Egypt for being so frank in confronting many 'taboo' subjects, like state oppression, what motivates the young to go in for fundamentalism, the decline of the country's hopes over the past few decades. There are certainly moments when it feels a little clunky, a bit too much of an 'issue' film at the expense of real drama or characterisation. But to a non Arab audience maybe what comes across most strongly is the intense atmosphere of envy and barely-suppressed class hatred and violence. Everyone's jockeying for a better future, and ready to sacrifice any 'finer' feelings they might have for a good swindle. The rich sneer and exploit, while the poor scheme to bring them down. It's an overwhelmingly claustrophobic and decadent milieu (especially as the film mostly sticks to interiors), and really not a barrel of laughs.
But despite that, and some frankly clumsy direction at some points, you should see this film: because it's a miracle it exists at all, because it truly does give a window into a part of the world all too infrequently seen on film, especially in the West, and because of its deeply humane, elegaic and often comic view of its setting. (Almost) all human life is here. Give it a go!- Was this review helpful to you?
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All reviews
(18)A diverse slice of life
By OscarFreak (415 reviews) from London , 19 Aug 2012I found this film very interesting, a little stilted in parts but it had the advantage of a series of interwoven story lines which kept the film moving and I did not find it too long. Not for everyone but if you have interest in what goes on in other parts of the world this a film for you.- Was this review helpful to you?
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Worth a watch at least once
By roopks (15 reviews) from London , 31 May 2012[Highly rated reviewer]
Well, like many who have seen the movie, I am surporised that the Egyptian Govt allowed this movie to be released. It is a bold approach for them and a hard pill to swallow for many. It is a straight forward peek behind the curtains of the lives of the rich and the poor, the debautched and the saintly........in short if someone is interested in cultural/foreign movies then I would suggest them to see it at least once. It is nothing new for the Western world however a big step for Egypt to show it, let alone accept it. I have seen a few and the actors are all some of the best and top Egyptian actors.- Was this review helpful to you?
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Interesting movie
By sailbatten (64 reviews) from London , 03 Mar 2012[Highly rated reviewer]
If you are interested in other cultures, and in why some young Muslim men turn towards extremism, this is an educational and absorbing film.- Was this review helpful to you?
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Interesting insight into another culture.
By Fullfilmlover (9 reviews) from Beckton, east London. , 24 Jun 2011THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS Show review anywayHide
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really..read the novel
By icing (8 reviews) , 20 Jun 2011dull, didn't bother finishing what could have been very good, the quality of the art direction,script and characters weren't engaging!- Was this review helpful to you?
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