City of Life

City of Life didn't live up to its potential, but is still a quaint melodrama and I must say I enjoyed the second half. When I say potential, I mean things like showing us more of the city and surrounds. We get snippets of interesting looking streets and harbour, but much of the movie could well have been anywhere. There is a fight scene in a wreckers yard for example, which may as well have been New York. The snippets and ideas behind what cinematography there was, such as fireworks at a low ebb, or the Asian and his bicycle, were very good. The story is OK but nothing we haven't seen before, nor are the characters anything novel, save perhaps the fellow whom looks like a movie star. He had a relationship with some boys from his slum that was cute, and I wondered the writers didn't develop that a little. City of Life seems to have opted for a play-it-safe course for most of its duration, but I must admit it did all lead to some very satisfactory conclusions. City of Life will please, but probably won't dazzle.

I've convinced my movie-addict French neighbor to come discovering the first Emirati movie with me last night and we've both been thrilled by this experience! We've both been living in Dubai for a few years and everything in this movie was talking to us: the character, the story, the atmosphere and the sets of course. Debuting director Ali F. Mostafa has done an excellent work in depicting these different lives and their destiny in this cosmopolitan city, capturing smartly the essence of the Dubai "cultural melting pot" without falling in the stereotype. Acting was good in general for the whole cast (special mention to Yassin Alsalman aka Khalfan and Sonu Sood aka Basu), the photography was capturing Dubai atmosphere with just the right tone and the cool soundtrack was giving a arty note to the movie, reminding me a bit of what is being done in the US independent production the last years (Anderson or Reitman). City of Life is not free of defects though: the fighting scenes look a bit like cartoon (watch the local martial art in dish dash!), the social class rivalry between Emiratis would have benefited from further development and some elapse effect in the narration dilute the emotional impact of certain scenes (the scene with Natalia at the hospital), but these minor reproaches do not erode the pleasure you will feel watching City of Life and remember this is only the first movie of Ali F. Mostafa! Now would this movie talk to somebody not living in Dubai? I would say definitely yes as City of Life stands alone as a good piece of cinematography with a captivating story. I hope this movie will get the chance to have an international career and I wish foreign audience will witness the birth of a new talented Emirati director as we did yesterday. Spread the word!!!

An excellent movie overall. There was a fluent use of English, Arabic and Urdu in this movie because in Dubai all three languages are used fluently. This movie shows the sharp contract in people and their attitude.

I really felt for the Indian Manager who had worked for 15 years only to be put under a young boy just because he was boss's son.

This movie did not touch more sensitive items like slave servants or sex slaves but it plays in such a way that you could feel the helplessness in the air.

The message in between the lies was that this life in the fast lane means that there is nothing what it seems.

I went to see the movie last night and I was very pleasantly surprised. The movie depicts well the real Dubai. The characters painted feel so real that sometimes during the movie I was reminded of people that I have crossed during my time in Dubai. For people who don't know Dubai, a character or two might seem 'cliches' like the British playboy or the Russian pretty girl who is only interested in men with money... but those that live in Dubai know that these people do actually exist here, probably more than anywhere else.

The writers managed to make all the characters seem true and move the viewer. City of Life portrays a diverse and vibrant city and a message of compassion seem to emanate of it. On top of that it gives an opportunity to see the lives of groups of people that you don't see in reality like Emiratis and gives us a chance to understand each other better.

I really invite you to go watch it.

Arab film fest DC. To my surprise there's an Emirati movie with a not so bad blurb. Decide to go check it out, hoping it's not clichéd or derivative.

In short, movie was really really good. I was pretty much glued to the screen. Script was very smart and intertwined 3 story lines, and while it felt slightly forced in some parts it wasn't distracting. Cinematography was great, humor was intact and soundtrack for the most part was on key.

As a Kuwaiti that grew up in the US, then lived in the UAE and Kuwait, only to come back to the US I feel very drawn to this movie. I actually feel this movie was made for my generation of English-as-a-first-language Arabs. Was very impressed, and glad that I went. While I wouldn't say this movie redefines cinema, it definitely shines as a stand alone title with enough originality to inspire future attempts from the Gulf.

Highly recommended.