At the Projector as part of the Middle Eastern Film Festival in Singapore
A young lady, twenty nine and a half, living in Algiers, is forbidden to go up to the roof of her flat. All she wants is to gaze out and daydream under the sun, with the sea beneath her. The ladies will gossip and her mom gets angry. So she hangs the laundry as a means to be there. To daydream.
She works for her aunt, who is a head masseuse. They clean the public baths. An elderly lady retells her story of innocence on her wedding night. She was only 11. She could not escape the clutches of her husband. She banged on the martial bedroom door but it was locked. Her mom was seeing. They could not have any children and her husband beat her. But after that she had six, fathered by her brother-in-law. She loved him dearly.
A teenager escape to this bathhouse and was taken in by the aunt. Her brother threatened to kill her for adultery. She is heavily pregnant and about to give birth.
Her brother shows up at the door and the lead takes him to be his future husband. She promises to return call if she sees her sister, not knowing the consequences.
A widow is shunned by everyone. Her husband is a 'martyr' of the country for the Islamic cause but everyone lives in fear. No one offers her shampoo except the one who was thrown acid on by this regime.
This strong lady has just got her divorce. Bearing the marks of acid burns on her chest for having breasts, she cries out to the widow, "Your Islam is not our kind of Islam" with its punitive laws and punishments. No contraceptives. The women cannot smoke, orgasm not spoken about and the woman's place is in childbearing and child rearing. Women cannot enjoy sex.
The aunt's husband sees sex as a dirty thing and engages it from the back only. Ouch!
The lead calls the brother. He arrives with a mob out for blood of his sister.
The widow offers to assist in the labour process as as trainee professional in the medical field.
Saturday, August 12, 2017
In the Last Days of the City
At the Projector
12 Aug 2017
Part of the Middle Eastern Film Festival
Nice cinematography but i was disappointed by the lack of depth in the issues that could have been addressed. Four friends who gathered in Cairo, Egypt, for a final farewell. Lead actor goes around looking for a house to rent to no avail. The final house he viewed was really cost but way too expensive. The little girl in the picture which hung in this house bears semblance to the homeless lady on the street seeing the same white flowers or maybe she's just carrying that same white flowers and looking like she's looking for her list love on the streets of Egypt.
One friend migrates to Berlin, one lives in Beirut, another in Baghdad. His girl moved to somewhere in the last few scenes. What was disappointing was the lack of exploration as to why she moved. Maybe it was hinted at - the lack of affectionate display in public? Or maybe it could be the lead actor - he was far too sorrowful and constantly bemoaning the past. They clearly still have some feelings for each other though.
The lead films Hanan a storyteller, his mom, Leila his ex, his friends, the streets of Egypt with her strikes, arrests of protestors, the old giving way to some new. For ex i see Macs on the streets together with the conservative costumes.
The lead gets a phone call from one of his friends and finally opens his window to the stuffy room. Who was that? Is it good ex? She died? All we know is this friend cried which caused the change in voice.
The massive prayer on the streets which actually does cause traffic to show down.
Poetry survives despite hardship and war. It might even flourish.
12 Aug 2017
Part of the Middle Eastern Film Festival
Nice cinematography but i was disappointed by the lack of depth in the issues that could have been addressed. Four friends who gathered in Cairo, Egypt, for a final farewell. Lead actor goes around looking for a house to rent to no avail. The final house he viewed was really cost but way too expensive. The little girl in the picture which hung in this house bears semblance to the homeless lady on the street seeing the same white flowers or maybe she's just carrying that same white flowers and looking like she's looking for her list love on the streets of Egypt.
One friend migrates to Berlin, one lives in Beirut, another in Baghdad. His girl moved to somewhere in the last few scenes. What was disappointing was the lack of exploration as to why she moved. Maybe it was hinted at - the lack of affectionate display in public? Or maybe it could be the lead actor - he was far too sorrowful and constantly bemoaning the past. They clearly still have some feelings for each other though.
The lead films Hanan a storyteller, his mom, Leila his ex, his friends, the streets of Egypt with her strikes, arrests of protestors, the old giving way to some new. For ex i see Macs on the streets together with the conservative costumes.
The lead gets a phone call from one of his friends and finally opens his window to the stuffy room. Who was that? Is it good ex? She died? All we know is this friend cried which caused the change in voice.
The massive prayer on the streets which actually does cause traffic to show down.
Poetry survives despite hardship and war. It might even flourish.
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