I don’t know how many other Egyptian films so blatantly bring up the corruption present in their society, and I do commend this film for being so brave as to point this out. However, I would like to point out that it is also very daring when it comes to bringing up taboo topics in Egypt. I found it to be pretty much a 3-hour long soap opera, that was way too romanticizing of the past and sometimes problematic.

To be completely honest, I really did not like The Yacoubian Building that much, although it has had very good reviews online. Overview: Meditations on corruption, fundamentalism, prostitution, homosexuality, and drugs in central Cairo. Regrettably, in July 2006 the Egyptian Parliament censored the film version of the novel.Īmie Daraves is a Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, intern.Starring Adel Emam as Zaki El Dessouki, Nour El-Sharif as Mohammad Azzam, Youssra as Christine, Essad Youniss as Dawlat El Dessouki, Ahmad Bedair as Malaak, Hind Sabri as Bothayna, Khaled Saleh as Kamal El Fouly, and Muhammad Emam as Taha El Shazly.

Indeed, The Yacoubian Building was a rare victory for freedom of expression in Egypt. Thus the underlying tension, which the novel boldly puts forth, is one of religious morality versus secularism, and one of tradition versus modernity. By using non-traditional characters, Al Aswany sheds light on a number of the country’s most sensitive taboos, most notably corruption, prison torture, homosexuality, and the rise of fundamental Islam. Since it was first released in Arabic in 2002, The Yacoubian Building has been shrouded by controversy in a country where the Ministry of Information (and, by extension, the state-owned media) have a history of controlling content with an iron fist. By intertwining their stories, Al Aswany creates an ensemble of sympathetic characters living at the crossroads of change in a modernizing society. Representing a cross-section of class and religion in Egypt, as their lives unfold for the reader so, too, do the many hardships of contemporary Cairo life. Set in an actual building in downtown Cairo, the controversial best-seller weaves together the lives of several characters to create a daring social critique.įrom the underprivileged locals who squat on the roof, to the building’s legitimate tenants-a politician, a store owner, and a gay scholar-the Yacoubian is home to Cairenes young and old, rich and poor. By Alaa Al Aswany, The American University in Cairo Press, 2004, 245 pp.Ī rare and penetrating look into modern Egyptian society can be found in Alaa Al Aswany’s novel, The Yacoubian Building.

The yacoubian building review