CAIRO TIME
Canada, 2009, 90 minutes, Colour.
Patricia Clarkson, Alexander Siddig.
Directed by Ruba Nadda.
It’s an obvious thing to say (and quite a number of reviewers have said it) that if you haven’t the money or time to visit Cairo, then Cairo Time is a pleasing 90 minute substitute.
This is a film for audiences over 35, especially a women’s audience who could identify with the middle-aged central character. There is no concession to younger sensibilities which may be action-oriented, expecting everything to be fast- paced. In fact, one word that Canadian director, Ruba Nadda, has used is that she wanted the atmosphere of Cairo and its heat (even in November) as ‘languid’. The film is agreeably languid. It has a PG rating and all older audiences will be comfortable watching it.
Yes, the city of Cairo is one of the stars of the film and features in a great deal of attractive detail, dusty markets and bazaars with their crowds, buildings old and new, traffic often jammed. There are also luxury hotels with fine views of the Nile as well as a visit to the desert, to a wedding in Alexandria and, finally, to the pyramids which hover in the background of the city from many angles. We look at the city from the perspective of an American woman as well as a local who migrated years earlier from Syria.
The fine actress, Patricia Clarkson, is Juliette, an editor on a women’s magazine, who visits Cairo for the first time, to meet up with her husband who works for the United Nations in Gaza. He is busy with difficulties in a camp there and Juliette is left to her own devices. As with so many Americans, she is not very familiar with the countries of the eastern Mediterranean and Islamic customs for men, for women, for modesty and behaviour. Gradually, she learns and succumbs to the atmosphere of Egypt.
The person who helps her is Tareq (Alexander Siddig) who had worked for her husband and now runs a coffee shop (for men) left to him by his family. He is a man of courtesy and charm, shows Juliette the city, explains situations to her (including picking her up from a bus trip to Gaza where the bus and travellers are prevented by Israelis from entering).
Almost imperceptibly, given the subtleties of the performances and the delicacy of the screenplay, the two are attracted to each other, he meeting a past love whose daughter is now marrying, she feeling alone with the absence of her husband. It should be said that the tone of the film is the opposite of those stories of lonely people becoming overwhelmingly involved with each other.
As the film slowly unfolds, as the characters reveal more of themselves, we experience a small film but one which is attractive and humane.
1. An engaging adult story? Older audiences? The wide audience?
2. The title, the Cairo settings, audience response? The touristic aspects of Cairo? Seen through American eyes? Through Egyptian eyes? The visuals of the city, the range of locations, poverty, wealth, the markets, hotels, tours, the rocky desert, the pyramids? The excursion to Alexandria? The audience immersed in Egypt?
3. Time, differences in perceptions of time, the American pace, busy? The Middle East pace, Egypt? Juliette, her leisure time, stranded time, romantic time?
4. Juliette’s story, Patricia Clarkson’s performance? Age, her life before her trip, working with the magazine, its focus, her children, the child who eloped, honeymoon in Spain, her daughter and creative writing? Her husband, his work with the UN? Her arrival at the airport, Tareq meeting her, knowing of him, meeting Yasmin at the airport, her daughter, the prospective wedding, her sense of the relationship between Tareq and Yasmin? At the hotel, messages from her husband? The phone calls? Alone, the meals, going to the email centre, talking with people, walking the street, the men ogling her, the traffic? At the river? Finding Tareq and his coffee shop, for men only, the embarrassment? The embassy function, the belly dance, meeting Kathryn, Kathryn’s story and relationships, love? Mark’s calls and the reassurance? The personnel and their reassuring Juliette? The beauty of the rocky desert? Going to Gaza, the bus, the girl in the bus, giving the letter, delivering it? The woman’s pregnancy? The young man and the information? The dangers in the bus, the border, the Israeli guards, her treatment? Tareq collecting her? The tourism, the river, the meals, Tareq and the trip to Alexandria, their discussions on the train, meeting Yasmin, the dance, the return? Intending to go to the pyramids with Mark, her going with Tareq? The attraction, the kiss in the lift, not following through? Mark arriving, being united, the farewell? The visit with him to the pyramids? Not telling him about Tareq? A journey for Juliette, a change of pace, thinking about her relationship and her marriage, her life, the encounter with Tareq?
5. Tareq, the background from Syria, study, the relationship with Yasmin? Working for the United Nations, with Mark? The difficulties in Gaza? Retiring, his coffee shop, playing chess, meeting Juliette, discussions, the tour, the rescue in Gaza, the pyramids, the kiss, the possibilities? Not following through?
6. Mark, United Nations, the separation, his arrival? The pyramid trip?
7. Kathryn, her story, background, relationships, her work in Egypt?
8. The girl on the bus, nervous, confiding in Juliette, their friendship, the letter, her being trapped at the border?
9. The pleasant pace, languid, its effect on the audience and their experience of Egypt, the characters, emotional issues?
