Bayn el samaa wa el ard

Perhaps the only movie ever made entirely about people trapped in a stuck elevator: these include a mega-sexy film star, a petty crook, a robber, an escaped lunatic, a pair of illicit lovers, a pregnant woman and her husband, the man operating the elevator, and others. The action also expands to the roof of the building, where a film is being shot and the boyfriend of one of the passengers has a suicide pact with her. It's an intriguing mosaic / microcosm of Egyptian society at the time, and certainly a technical marvel, athough at feature length it feels a little stretched-out, and some of the performances - the lunatic and the director, in particular - are pitched too high. **1/2 out of 4.