ALAA El Aswani’s novel “Imarat Yacoubian” (The Yacoubian Building) is the most successful Arab novel in recent years. It has sold more than 100,000 copies since its publication in 2002 and has already gone through seven editions. The novel has also been translated into six languages with eight more translations in progress.
Since the 1980’s, not a single Egyptian literary work has been adapted for the screen. The best seller status of “The Yacoubian Building” provided an ideal opportunity for change. The film now being shown in all Cairo cinemas, is the most talked about subject in town. Having cost 3.5 million dollars, it is the biggest budget Egyptian film at the box office. Despite its unusual length — three hours — people have been queuing up to watch it ever since it was released.
Most of the film’s action is based in the Yacoubian Building which still stands at 34 Talat Harb Street (formerly Sulieman Pasha) in downtown Cairo. Alaa El-Aswani describes with dark humor and cynical realism the lives of various people living in the building and on its roof. He delves with a manifest relish into the scourges of Egyptian society: moral decadence, political corruption, growing poverty and the rise of Islamic fundamentalism. The film is a faithful adaptation of the novel which describes the social changes which affect Egyptian society. The Yacoubian Building is in fact a larger-than-life metaphor for an Egypt strangled by social pressure and hypocrisy and it has been dubbed ironically “Misryoubian,” the word “misr” meaning Egypt in Arabic.
According to the film’s director, Marwan Hamed, the film begins the long awaited revival of Egyptian cinema: “While I was shooting this movie, I felt as if I were reliving the golden age of Egyptian cinema. It was a time when great actors working together created great movies.”
The characters in the film are played by some of Egypt’s most loved and most famous actors. The novel’s hero, Zaki El-Dessouki, the son of a pasha, is played by superstar Adel Imam. At least half of the film deals with this character who is a good guy. Dessouki calls himself the “last respectable man” in one scene and he is incapable of harming others.
Hajj Mohamed Azzam played by Nour El-Sherif acts as a foil for El-Dessouki. Once a humble shoeshine boy, he has become a wealthy drug dealer, paying huge bribes to guarantee his election to parliament and to ensure that his drug business does not get investigated.
Even the well-known Yousra settled for a minor role in order to be part of the film’s cast. She plays the part of Christine, Dessouki’s life-long friend who always asks her to sing Edith Piaf’s ‘La vie en rose’.
Despite its dark realism, the film appears to pass judgments. Abd Rabu, the poor soldier kept by the well known journalist Hatim El-Rashidi, is punished by fate when his son dies. He deserts El-Rashidi, a character extremely well played by Khaled El-Sawi. Hatim El-Rashidi is eventually murdered by a young man he has picked up in the street.
And the corrupt Azzam, who victimizes his second wife Soad, played by Somaya El-Khashab, is himself blackmailed by a corrupt official El-Fouli.
The son of the doorman, Taha El Shazli, (played by Mohammed Imam, Adel Imam’s son) is denied entry to the Police Academy because of his social status. He tries to control his anger and frustration by joining a religious group. However after a political demonstration, he is thrown into jail where he is subsequently tortured and raped. After his release his acute desire for vengeance leads to a violent clash between religious terrorists and the police.
This complex character could have been better played. Mohamed Imam shows a lack of experience and it is a pity that Taha El-Shazli who is such a pivotal character in the novel is so weak on the screen. On the other hand, his fiancée, Bouthaina, who eventually turns him down when he becomes too religious, is well played by Hind Sabri.
The main storylines in the film have little in common but their fate is linked by the fact that most of them live in the Yacoubian Building.
The film has been successfully presented at the Film Festivals in both Cannes and Berlin. It is subtitled in English which undoubtedly will make it accessible to a larger audience; it is one of the best Arab films of recent years.
