L'immeuble Yacoubian

The modern day Egypt is the main character of this epic. It seems to be a tumultuous place never sure if it wants to be in the West or East. The director of this interesting movie tackles quite a few controversial topics. The rise of Islamic fundamentalism, homosexuality, the poor treatment of women in contemporary Egyptian society, the rampant corruption, still powerful strict class system. Enough topics for a dozen movies, but the director somehow manages to pull it all together. Some of the story lines feel a bit rushed to its conclusion, but all in all an interesting glimpse at modern Arab world. Its people are like any other, scared and imperfect and a bit lost in the complexities of life.

"The Yaboubian Building" reminded me of those over-heated Spanish soap operas that air nightly on Telemundo. The sweep and size of the film (not to mention its length) may fool people into thinking it's a more important picture than it actually is, when really it's not much more than one big soapy melodrama that manages to stay mostly entertaining over the course of its three hours.

There's a lot going on in this film, and you may find you have your work cut for you just following the basics of the plot. I suspect much more of the film would have made sense to me had I known more about Egyptian culture. As it is, there are a lot of terms and situations in the film that probably didn't have their full desired effect. Of course, it's tough as an American, and therefore one used to experiencing art that throws critical darts at my country's beliefs and institutions, to fully understand how controversial this film (and the book on which it is based) has been in Egypt. By all accounts, the frank candour about corrupt government, homosexuality and the prostitution of Egyptian citizens (of all types and at all levels of society) have been greeted with quite an uproar in this film's country of origin. It's a noble effort on the part of the film-makers, and I can understand them wanting to pack in as much punch as they can, but the film tries to do too much, and the plot feels like several different agendas unsuccessfully unified into a coherent whole.

Much of "The Yacoubian Building" is no less ham-fisted than your typical Hollywood film, not the least of which are the scenes that explain outright the film's central metaphor (the Yacoubian building itself as a representation of Egyptian society). But much of it works quite well too, especially the acting, which is pretty good across the board, the crisp pacing and the driving musical score.

A big bold movie that bites off more than it can chew but provides a solid few hours of entertainment nonetheless.

Grade: B+

What I like most about this movie is that it opens a window into an unknown world for me, that of relations between men an women in modern Egypt, and it does so in a style that is at the same time sumptuous an unfamiliar. People do things you wouldn't expect, despite the slightly heavy-handed handling of emotions. There are areas where the movie is not perfect: it is so highly pessimistic and denounces the greed and selfishness of Egyptian men with so much vigor that it appears somewhat simplistic. It does tend to ramble a bit. But the power and the humor of the movie (it is quite funny, despite being tragic) transcends all that and makes those minor faults. I understand the director is very young, so he will have ample time to overcome and transcend these youthful imperfections. I didn't like Slumdog Millionaire because it told me everything about India that I already knew: it feels like a package tour where you are shown the sites you expect to see, and are whisked from one location to another. For a western viewer, Omaret yakobean is like a journey where you land at the airport and are immediately carried away by the atmosphere, the culture shock, the bustling streets, the misunderstandings, from which you emerge with challenged assumptions and a wider view of the world.

Omaret Yakobean is my new favorite movie because well everything about it is done perfectly, as in acting, music, storyline, characters... Also, it tackles so many issues and problems in the Egyptian society from corruption, to prostitution to homosexuality to many other things, things that the Egyptian cinema has been too conservative, or "shy" to handle because they are all taboo. But no! this movie tackles all these issues in an upfront and honest, yet classy and sophisticated way. However I have to point out that Mohammad Imam's performance was somewhat shaky, but he overall gave an OK performance for his first movie. On the whole, this movie is a breakthrough for the Egyptian cinema and in my opinion the best movie ever made in the history of the Arab cinema. Hopefully, more movies of that genre will be made in the future because every second of that movie was entertaining in every aspect and i was enjoying it until the very last second, and i even didn't want it to finish.this movie is just BEAUTIFUL!!!

I read the story of Yacoubian Building so I couldn't wait to watch it in the movie theater but I thought it will be like any other story. not as good as the book. I just loved this movie.. the Casting was so genius and every actor did his part in an amazing way. The Old Classic ones and the new generation. Even Mohamed Emam. this is his first movie and he was able to make me believe in him. This movie should be nominated for an Oscar. Even the soundtrack, the picture and the dialog just so good. this movie had me thinking all night about it and made me live it. this movie made me laugh, cry, bothered, It is a masterpiece. I just hope the movie industry in Egypt keeps on bringing those types of movies. those movies which remind us of the 70's movies where at least 2 or 3 big movies stars act together. Now I'm thinking to take the rest of my friends to it so i can be able to watch it second time. It is one of the best movies I've watched this year.