Reviews

Located in North Cairo, Abu Zaabal leper colony was the inspiration behind Abu Bakr Shawky's feature film. There, the director had shot his short documentary "The Colony" in 2009. The colony is home for 6000 people, who choose to stay, years after scientific proof that they are not contagious or of danger to the outside world..

The NYU graduate, Shawky, along with producer Dina Emam, put together a small team to create a fascinating road movie that tells the story of Beshay; a man who has recovered from leprosy but left with extensive scarring, living off scavenging for sellable items from the local garbage dump.

Following the sudden death of his wife, Bashay arrives at a midlife crisis and resolves to travel to his home village, which is hundreds of miles away - uncertain of the path and afraid of facing the family, who abandoned him as a child out of fear of his condition.

Centuries ago, and due to socially assumed contagiousness of the disease, lepers were ostracized and marginalized. They were subject to extreme measures of quarantine all over the world, and even now, that research has concluded 95% of people is immune to this disease, the people affected are often treated as outcasts, and therefore consider themselves to be.

Played by non-professional actor Rady Gamal, a natural in both his performance as well as appearance, as Shawky allows the contours of Gamal's face to be bathed in light without any prosthetics. Bashay's traveling companions are a monkey and Obama; a boy from the neighboring orphanage, played by Ahmed Abdelhafiz, another non-actor. He was given the name of Obama, in reference to the "guy on TV", as he later elaborates.

On the road, the two friends encounter an unsurprising amount of hostility from strangers, but eventually find companionship from a trio of outcasts, including a legless former truck driver and a dwarf. The new characters are introduced in light and often comedic dialogue, bringing to mind the movie "Freaks" (1940) by Tod Browning, which was played by a cast of real performers from the 40s' "Freak Shows". These performers fought unemployment through performance art and are remembered to our day for the movement they have started.

In a way, "Yomeddine" introduces the new heroes, this time Egyptian, forming deep friendships and continuing to work for a living regardless of their physical disability, limited options and the discrimination they're subject to.

"Yomeddine's value lies in its documentation of the outcast experience through close encounter with Egyptian slums shot by Argentinian cinematographer Federico Cesca: demonstrating raw portrayal of hardship without engaging in poverty porn, and music by Omar Fadel was successful in forming a memorable sound to the movie.

Winner of François Chalais Award at 2018 Cannes Film Festival, Tanit d'Argent at Carthage Film Festival, the Audience Award at El Gouna Film Festival and a nominee for numerous awards, "Yomeddine", which means Judgement Day in Arabic.

In this review, I look at the second feature film by French New Wave director Agnès Varda, accompanied by the music of Michel Legrand.

Florence "Cléo" Victoire, played by Corinne Marchand, is a Parisian pop singer, awaiting the results of what she already knows will be a grim medical diagnosis. Tracing in real time her afternoon between the hours of 5 and 7pm, we follow her movements through Paris as she tries to connect with those around her, looking for consolation and attempting to come to terms with her fear of imminent death.

Set in the 60s, this feature was a significant feminist film for its time and one of the starters of the French New Wave, but it also holds a vibrant musical experience.

French composer and jazz pianist Michel Legrand helped define the 60s with his composition 'The Windmills Of Your Mind', which won an Oscar after it was featured in the 1968 crime movie 'The Thomas Crown Affair'. His career in cinema spans over 154 film soundtracks as he worked with some of France's pre-eminent New Wave directors, among them Jean-Luc Godard and Jacques Demy, but in his work with Agnès Varda on 'Cléo from 5 to 7', a different side of Legrand is present.

Originally, Legrand was not considered to be play an acting role in the film. Varda explained in an interview with Les Lettres françaises in 1962 that she cast Legrand after observing him rehearse the songs with Marchand, commenting that he was "very gifted and had a marvelous personality, exactly right for this role." In the role of Bob the pianist, Legrand had a comedic personality, with an infectious energy and passion for music, not to mention an effortless command of the piano.

Using lyrics written by Varda, Legrand managed to compose soundtracks that shaped the entire atmosphere and character progression; interpreting the shifts of emotions that Cléo goes through during the day.

From the early stages of the film, as Cléo descends the staircase, the same three note pattern on different tones repeats, her footsteps follow a metronome-like beat, evoking the sound of a ticking clock, propelling her to move forward onscreen despite her clear distress, because - for Cléo - time is running out.

Whilst in a taxi, she becomes embarrassed when her song is heard on the radio, which indicates a conflict in her relationship with her music. The climax of the film was also musically interpreted, featuring the film score, during Cléo and Bob's rehearsal. Following her abrupt ending of the rehearsal and taking to the streets, Cléo meets Antoine, a soldier on the leave.

As they walk away silently, four disparate, dissonant chords emerge from the soundtrack and lead into the closing credits.

The four soundtracks of 'Cléo from 5 to 7' were released as an EP on January 2nd, 1962. Michel Legrand was working right up until his death at the age of 86 on January 26th 2019. Having announced plans to perform at London's Royal Albert at September 20th, the promoters have said that the concert will still go ahead, but as a tribute to the late French composer.

A 1955 melodrama from the Golden Age of Egyptian cinema, directed by Niazi Mostafa, "A Glass & a Cigarette" features several of the era's brightest stars and sets an enchanting setting for the story of a performer who gives up her bright career for marriage, maneuvering infidelity on the other side.

This full-length feature, that runs for 111 minutes, stars the legendary Samia Gamal and marks the first official film appearance of Dalida, who used her real name for the role. Dalida's - secondary - role in "A Glass and a Cigarette" truly portrayed the characteristics of a femme fatale, bringing to notice the influence of Film Noir on an Arabic classic.

The American film form that branched from German expressionism in the early 1920s to the late 1950s and became a specific significant genre shaping cinema for years to come, Film Noir has a visual style of claustrophobic interiors framed or restricted by the camera frame, many night scenes, stark chiaroscuro, low-key lighting, dramatic overtones in sound scores, and heightened expressionistic scenes with grotesque elements. The iconography of noir uses the city as villain and hostile, the border town or the casino, voice recorders, newspapers, and the telephone as metaphor of desire, to overcome alienation and connect with others.

"A Glass and a Cigarette" mimicked much of these noir elements in an Arabic setting. It's even been argued that the script of "A Glass and a Cigarette", written by Abdel Aziz Salam and Hasan Tawfiq, is based on the plot of the Hollywood classic "Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman"; starring Susan Hayward in 1947.

Hoda (Samia Gamal), the protagonist character, is a famous cabaret dancer and film star with a lovable character and undeniable talent. She decides to retire to marry and start a family with the handsome surgeon Mamdouh (Nabil Al-Alfi). Hoda is not the conventional film hero, confident and certain, but rather defined by her ability to survive and restore normality. Azza (Princess Kouka) is Hoda's best friend and the comic relief of the film. She sings at the cabaret and navigates Hoda through difficult times. Iolanda (Dalida), the antagonist character, is a scheming Italian nurse who lures and seduces Mamdouh. She is glamorous with dark lips and long flowing hair. Dalida performed an iconic scene with this character that was mentioned throughout her singing career, recalling on her debut years; Iolanda dances, sings and seduces her boss doctor in his family home, in front of eyes of his wife and other guests.

Following Iolanda's interference, Hoda's emotional state drives her back to an earlier addiction of alcohol and cigarettes. We are taken alongside the character on her journey of jealousy and resentment, containing many dance numbers and ending with a fire in the marital house.

Throughout the movie, Hoda becomes more and more of a frozen symbol of self-destruction, rather than a true portrait of pain and addiction. Her drinking and smoking is condemned because it endangers her home, not because it lowers her own quality of life, and this speaks volumes on the different nature of the times.

It's suiting to remember here that it was the fifties, and the psychology used by the filmmaker was derived from the domain of patriarchal Freudian psychoanalysis, so it doesn't come as a surprise that this female-centric film - largely dominated by women and thriving on female performance (on stage and off) - also tries its best to localize women's ultimate potential in the home. But in reality, these women - including assistant director Amina Mohammad - ultimately negated that message of the film by being on set, and the cinematic quality they granted the viewer is true testimony of power.