Coup de foudre au Caire

I'm sorry to say this because I adore Patricia Clarkson but this movie is boring, the script seems forced, some characters like Elena Anaya have no sense and doesn't bring anything to the story.

The acting was good and the scenery breathtaking but it just doesn't work and is all very predictable. And to me it appeared that there weren't much chemistry between the actors.

After half of the movie you keep wondering just how much more can you take without falling asleep. But still I don't regret seeing it because it's quite rare seeing Patricia Clarkson as a lead and she surely does not disappoints.

Québécois writer and director Ruba Nadda favors stories that deal with love between Muslim and non-Muslim and her latest film CAIRO TIME follows that path - to an extent. According to Nadda she views this film as a 'luscious, serene, languid romance', a story that crosses two unlikely and emotionally unavailable people who approach momentary bliss in the beauty of Cairo. It is a slow film, the type of movie that encourages the viewer to sit back and enjoy an adult romance.

Juliette Grant (Patricia Clarkson) arrives in Cairo for a vacation with her UN employee husband Mark (Tom McCamus) only to discover that Mark is in Gaza on 'business': she discovers the information from a retired ex-assistant to Mark, Tareq Khalifa (Alexander Siddig), who offers her honest companionship until Mark returns. Tareq now owns a coffee house and spends his days playing chess. Juliette meets Kathryn (Elena Anaya), another associate of Mark, who offers her company, but Juliette prefers to be alone. The magic of Cairo - the smells, the muezzin calls to worship, the street shops, the sunsets - all begin to work on Juliette's lonely mood and she wanders into the city, fends off young men's attentions, and encounters Tareq in his coffee house (a men only club). Tareq offers to show her Cairo, especially the pyramids, but Juliette says she promised Mark to share those with him. A trip down the Nile and walks in the fascinating city draw Juliette and Tareq together, and when the two encounter Yasmeen (Amina Annabi), a friend and ex-lover of Tareq, the two are invited to Yasmeen's daughter's wedding in Alexandria. Telephone calls from and to Mark reveal that Mark will be delayed in Gaza, and after Juliette makes an attempt to travel to Gaza to see Mark and is prevented by the military she returns to Cairo, determined to make the best of her extended stay there. She goes to Alexandria with Tareq, they enjoy the wedding, and when they return to Cairo they mutually decide to visit the pyramids. The magic is there and the longing between them is palpable, but as soon as they return, Mark appears at the hotel. The Cairo time is over and the viewer is left guessing how the emotions generated by the time and place will play out.

Among the many lovely details of this film are views about the gender barriers in the Middle East and the customs of a city that, while modern, is still a culture of men. As Juliette and Tareq wander the streets of Cairo we recognize subtleties that exist, subtleties that director Nadda never forces. The gorgeous cinematography is by Luc Montpellier and the musical score is by Niall Byrne. This film is more a poem than a story, a welcome change from the usual youngster-oriented love stories and more of a mature episode of ageless flirtation. Grady Harp, August 10

the movie was really good Um Kalthoum's great songs were amazing background music for the movie and Abdel Halim Hafez's too, the marvelous sites of Egypt and the sound of the Adan (the call for the Muslim prayer) all were fantastic...but as an Egyptian there were some stuff that were not realistic to me.

First was the accent of Tarek in the movie it wasn't Egyptian at all..

Second it only showed the crowded messed streets of Cairo and describing Cairo as "such a mess" disappointed me as an Egyptian living in Cairo, it didn't show the neat sites like Maadi, Heliopolis or Zamalek which the hotel supposed to be located at, which I believe must be a five stars hotel being by the Nile yet bizarrely the receptionists were not working at night which was extremely weird and doesn't happen at any place in the world!!!

Ruba Nadda wanted to convey a specific ancient image of Cairo but this can't be the whole image about Cairo now,, that movie would be realistic but 50 years ago..

Juliette Grant (Patricia Clarkson) travels from America to Cairo to meet her husband Mark (Tom McCamus), who belongs to the high echelon of UN and is settling refugees in Gaza. On the arrival, Juliette is welcomed by Tareq Khalifa (Alexander Siddig), an Egyptian that had worked with Mark and now is retired.

Mark has a problem in Gaza and can not come to Cairo, and the gentle Tareq invites Juliette to sail in the Nile and visit the pyramids. Juliette learns that she can not walk alone on the streets of Cairo since she is offensively harassed by the male locals, and she sightsees the city with Tareq. The proximity with her husband's friend and his attention to her make Juliette too attracted for Tareq. Will they have a love affair?

"Cairo Time" is a delicate and sensitive romance about companionship evolving to romance for mature audiences. Immediately after watching this pleasant film, I said to myself: this is certainly a film directed by a woman… and I was right. The sensitiveness of the director and author Ruba Nadda is impressive.

"Cairo Time" has magnificent cinematography and locations and the underrated Patricia Clarkson is excellent and with a perfect chemistry with Alexander Siddig. The music score is very beautiful and the conclusion of the affair of Juliette and Tareq is stunning. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Meus Dias no Cairo" ("My Days in Cairo")

Cairo Time could be the solution to the date movie, so subtle and full of empathy it has no time for anything that might embarrass the person you are with and you'll have something to talk about later. I saw it alone for logistical reasons, but from the middle of the second row it was quite emersive. I'm no Cairofile; all I know is that the place has pyramids and a funny word for the water pipes they smoke. Those things are touched upon, but the movie avoids becoming a travelogue. Patricia Clarkson (The Green Mile) arrives for a vacation with her United Nations honcho husband Mark only to find he isn't there. He'll be busy in Gaza for a while (which is never played for a joke although we get the idea that settling things in Gaza could take a while). Alexander Siddig (Dr. Bashir from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) a former co-worker of Mark meets her instead and acts as a guide where he can. He would show her the pyramids right away, but she has promised her husband to see them for the first time with him. We might be able to guess where this is heading, but the surprise is that scenes that might not read as 2009 ADD generation content is actually loaded and engaging. We are waiting for tea to steep and not getting bored. Clarkson takes on more of a glow as the movie goes on, but in the early scenes it is her character Juliette's vulnerability that has our focus. A bunch of random flirtations from guys on the street might be a minor irritant in the USA or Toronto's Annex neighbourhood, but here there is a growing sense of jeopardy which reinforces the bubble of trust Siddig's character creates. For another character to burst that bubble by violating the camera frame with a sudden lunge from the teaming masses would be a shame, an intrusion of reality. And yet the film is very realistic as to the unexpressed aspect of life that can turn a bland setting into a postcard perfect image depending who you are with. The director Ruba Nadda spoke after the Varsity cinema screening I attended and it is remarkable that amid the strategies needed to pull off this movie she managed to maintain such a subtle focus. It is nice that also Christine Vachon's brand is there as a producer to suggest how subtlety in a movie might even be considered quirky. But it definitely has the patience and quiet faith in detail that mark Ruba Nadda's previous movie Sabah. I would love to read a diary publication about the making of Cairo Time. From content to execution it is apparently a film only Ruba could have made - it has both ethnic trappings with gravitas and an accessible romantic, dramatic structure of entertainment.