Yacoubian Building
A Film and Novel Review
Yacoubian Building
Heba Wageih
Third Year
“Yacoubian Building” is an Egyptian movie, starring Adel Imam, Yousra, Nour El-Sherif, Hend Sabri, Khaled El-Sawi, Khaled Saleh and the new face Mohamed Imam and directed by the first-timer, Marwan Hamed. The movie tackles many controversial themes like homosexuality, terrorism and adultery. The movie potrays the life of different social classes in Egypt and sheds light on the active interaction among them. The movie is an adaptation of Alaa El-Aswany’s novel Yacoubian Building.
People come and go, but buildings are there all times, standing to witness history. The brilliant setting reveals the natural talent of Alaa El-Aswany. The author accompanies us on a tour through this building in the minute descriptions of the space and atmosphere of the place. Yacoubian Building is one of the oldest buildings witnessing the Egyptian history. It was built in 1934 by the millionaire Hagob Yacoubian – still standing till this day in Sulaiman Pasha Street – originally for the Armenian colony. Businessmen of the rich class society, including Jews, resided in this building. Nowadays, it is reportedly a little down in the dumps.
The movie opens with a typical morning of Zaki El-Dessouki walking in the street greeting his acquaintances, as they are not truly his friends. He may be considered the link between the high and low classes. He belongs to the upper-middle class, as he is the son of a pasha, and now lives with his sister, totally depending on his inheritance. His office is placed in what is supposed to be a construction company as the sign at the door says, yet its true nature lies beneath the disguise of a respectable office. Zaki used his designing skills in designing a comfortable flat to fulfill his sexual desires. A secret room is hidden behind a door in the office, to be ready for use at any time.
The same is the case of Hatem Rashid’s flat, the homosexual editor in chief. The design of his flat reflects his weird taste in life. The emotional atmosphere of his childhood always reflected his difference from the other typical Egyptian families. All of these differences are due to his father’s actions. He was married to a French woman, who never prayed or fasted, and instead, the wine glass never parted from their lips.Thus, the feeling of Hatem being different was always nourished and he grew up to be an abnormal person. This was reflected in the redecoration of the flat after his parents’ death. It turned out to become a bohemian cell. It was brilliantly depicted in the movie by the naked statues, curtains and lights.
On the other hand, the lower classes’ hard life is reflected in the description of the rooms, or I’d rather call them cells, where they reside. Before the revolution each room was an extension of a flat of the building; they were used as store rooms but never intended for servants to live in. They were only for big wild dogs to be locked up in. They are described as being inhuman and very small. By the coming of the revolution, they were owned by powerful police officers and their families. In consequence, these iron cells were transformed to be shelters for the servants. Gradually was the separation of these cells from the flats. Each flat owner started to sell these iron rooms to its poor residents.
The shift of ownership of the flats and rooms goes parallel to the shift in the rule of Egypt. It resulted in an extreme degradation of the Egyptian social life and the widening of the gap between social levels. First was the colonial period. The colonizers occupied Egypt and controlled everything. Then came Nasser’s communist days, when everything was owned by the government. The power the police officers had blinded thir eyes to the inhuman conditions of the poor classes. The drama of the Egyptian social conditions reached its peak by the Open Market days of Sadat, when the rich became richer and the poor poorer. This is dramatised in Yacoubian Building by the lives of Bossaina and Taha who were dying to improve their lives both economically and socially. They were locked up by poverty in these poor iron rooms that crippled the improvement of their lives, while the higher corrupted classes are represented by the flat residents like Zaki and Hatem who prefer to live the Western way of life. However, they both miserably failed whether due to moral corruption or missing the genuine essence of Western life which is devotion to the code of hard work.
Private space reflects the economic and social lives of the different classes, while public space reflects the interaction between the different classes. The different classes only meet in public spaces like bars, on the stairway or even on the side walks. People like Zaki, who is sociable by nature, meets people from other classes on the side walk or even in bars as he is a drunkard and a Don Juan at the same time. While the pervert homosexual Hatem gets in contact with poorer classes in bars like “Chez Nous” which is lower than the ground level to indicate its low moral standards. Even the light of these places is dim to hide the corruption inside.
The novel together with the movie succeeded in bringing all the corruption and social problems to light by the brilliant metaphor of the building and its residents. The taboo of homosexuality is openly discussed, stating that silence alone will never put an end to this major problem. Money may be the cause and root of all problems facing the lower classes in Egypt. The sick perverts of the higher classes manipulate the bad financial situations of the poor leading to adultery. The lower classes are obliged to sell their honour to be able to support their families. Even religion is manipulated as a mask which corrupt people hide behind to bring them fame. The other face of religion is represented by the life of a religious oppressed person who shifts to extremism due to the shattering of all his dreams to join the Egyptian police academy. All the dirty work of the government on all levels, in prisons and business world, is brought to light. The movie is a wake up call for the government to pay more attention to the public, showing that oppression will only lead to the revolt of the oppressed. Since any work of art is intended to reflect reality to the readers and raise their awareness of what is taking place around them, the writer can offer a solution to the problems. The ending of Yacoubian Building serves as reconciliation between different classes represented in the marriage of Zaki and Bossaina. This is not an ultimate solution to all the problems, but it is the author’s contribution to solving them.
Yacoubian Building
Heba Wageih
Third Year
“Yacoubian Building” is an Egyptian movie, starring Adel Imam, Yousra, Nour El-Sherif, Hend Sabri, Khaled El-Sawi, Khaled Saleh and the new face Mohamed Imam and directed by the first-timer, Marwan Hamed. The movie tackles many controversial themes like homosexuality, terrorism and adultery. The movie potrays the life of different social classes in Egypt and sheds light on the active interaction among them. The movie is an adaptation of Alaa El-Aswany’s novel Yacoubian Building.
People come and go, but buildings are there all times, standing to witness history. The brilliant setting reveals the natural talent of Alaa El-Aswany. The author accompanies us on a tour through this building in the minute descriptions of the space and atmosphere of the place. Yacoubian Building is one of the oldest buildings witnessing the Egyptian history. It was built in 1934 by the millionaire Hagob Yacoubian – still standing till this day in Sulaiman Pasha Street – originally for the Armenian colony. Businessmen of the rich class society, including Jews, resided in this building. Nowadays, it is reportedly a little down in the dumps.
The movie opens with a typical morning of Zaki El-Dessouki walking in the street greeting his acquaintances, as they are not truly his friends. He may be considered the link between the high and low classes. He belongs to the upper-middle class, as he is the son of a pasha, and now lives with his sister, totally depending on his inheritance. His office is placed in what is supposed to be a construction company as the sign at the door says, yet its true nature lies beneath the disguise of a respectable office. Zaki used his designing skills in designing a comfortable flat to fulfill his sexual desires. A secret room is hidden behind a door in the office, to be ready for use at any time.
The same is the case of Hatem Rashid’s flat, the homosexual editor in chief. The design of his flat reflects his weird taste in life. The emotional atmosphere of his childhood always reflected his difference from the other typical Egyptian families. All of these differences are due to his father’s actions. He was married to a French woman, who never prayed or fasted, and instead, the wine glass never parted from their lips.Thus, the feeling of Hatem being different was always nourished and he grew up to be an abnormal person. This was reflected in the redecoration of the flat after his parents’ death. It turned out to become a bohemian cell. It was brilliantly depicted in the movie by the naked statues, curtains and lights.
On the other hand, the lower classes’ hard life is reflected in the description of the rooms, or I’d rather call them cells, where they reside. Before the revolution each room was an extension of a flat of the building; they were used as store rooms but never intended for servants to live in. They were only for big wild dogs to be locked up in. They are described as being inhuman and very small. By the coming of the revolution, they were owned by powerful police officers and their families. In consequence, these iron cells were transformed to be shelters for the servants. Gradually was the separation of these cells from the flats. Each flat owner started to sell these iron rooms to its poor residents.
The shift of ownership of the flats and rooms goes parallel to the shift in the rule of Egypt. It resulted in an extreme degradation of the Egyptian social life and the widening of the gap between social levels. First was the colonial period. The colonizers occupied Egypt and controlled everything. Then came Nasser’s communist days, when everything was owned by the government. The power the police officers had blinded thir eyes to the inhuman conditions of the poor classes. The drama of the Egyptian social conditions reached its peak by the Open Market days of Sadat, when the rich became richer and the poor poorer. This is dramatised in Yacoubian Building by the lives of Bossaina and Taha who were dying to improve their lives both economically and socially. They were locked up by poverty in these poor iron rooms that crippled the improvement of their lives, while the higher corrupted classes are represented by the flat residents like Zaki and Hatem who prefer to live the Western way of life. However, they both miserably failed whether due to moral corruption or missing the genuine essence of Western life which is devotion to the code of hard work.
Private space reflects the economic and social lives of the different classes, while public space reflects the interaction between the different classes. The different classes only meet in public spaces like bars, on the stairway or even on the side walks. People like Zaki, who is sociable by nature, meets people from other classes on the side walk or even in bars as he is a drunkard and a Don Juan at the same time. While the pervert homosexual Hatem gets in contact with poorer classes in bars like “Chez Nous” which is lower than the ground level to indicate its low moral standards. Even the light of these places is dim to hide the corruption inside.
The novel together with the movie succeeded in bringing all the corruption and social problems to light by the brilliant metaphor of the building and its residents. The taboo of homosexuality is openly discussed, stating that silence alone will never put an end to this major problem. Money may be the cause and root of all problems facing the lower classes in Egypt. The sick perverts of the higher classes manipulate the bad financial situations of the poor leading to adultery. The lower classes are obliged to sell their honour to be able to support their families. Even religion is manipulated as a mask which corrupt people hide behind to bring them fame. The other face of religion is represented by the life of a religious oppressed person who shifts to extremism due to the shattering of all his dreams to join the Egyptian police academy. All the dirty work of the government on all levels, in prisons and business world, is brought to light. The movie is a wake up call for the government to pay more attention to the public, showing that oppression will only lead to the revolt of the oppressed. Since any work of art is intended to reflect reality to the readers and raise their awareness of what is taking place around them, the writer can offer a solution to the problems. The ending of Yacoubian Building serves as reconciliation between different classes represented in the marriage of Zaki and Bossaina. This is not an ultimate solution to all the problems, but it is the author’s contribution to solving them.
posted by Happy-Go-Lucky @ 9:26 PM
<< Home