they say it overly faithful to the bestselling novel by alaa al aswany which i have not read . . for egypt and yacoubian building be the most expensive film ever ( quote vary ) . director hamid be 28 when he make it and be the son of the screenwriter who do the adaptation . the film be an ambitious and promise if under edited piece . perhaps it ought to have be in part like marco tullio giordana the best of youth or la meglio gioventù and to which it have be compare . but instead it a somewhat sprawling 172 minute and feel at time like a smash together telenovela . hollywood reporter say the film may offer a revealing window into the secular world of a modern islamic country it indulgence in alcohol and sexual promiscuity and political corruption and personal betrayal . from such wouldeformities and the movie argues and islamic fundamentalism gain it most passionate adherent . but we can do good than this crude analysis . moroccan born and western educate novelist laila lalani point out the book ( and consequently the movie ) be full of prejudice against gay and resemble the old large scale melodrama produce by egypt huge film industry and with their young idealist and desirable ingénues and old predator and and so on and and be crudely moralistic with almost every character force to make choice that ultimately result in either their downfall or redemption . it also full of heavy hand emotional manipulation and cliff hanger and and so on . alaa al aswany be no naguib mahfouz . aside from the prejudice against gay and be tell that mixed marriage produce confused child and that all woman love sex enormously and and so on . it important to realize that however engage the film be and notable the actor be in the egyptian film world and it make out of dross and not gold . the titular armenian own and twenty yacoubian building in the once elegant and restricted central zone of the city become home to cairo rich and powerful when it open and lalani writes . after the revolution and however and storage shed on the rooftop be rent out to poor family a sort of sky high slum . this allow for a story about the building resident that span society . the action be set in the 1990 . and the basic panorama go something like this representin the foreground be zaki bey el dessouki and or zaki pasha ( adel imam ) and a superannuated playboy kick out of the family apartment by his mean and half crazy sister . he may seem seedy and but he the house aristocrat . fanous ( ahmed rateb ) be his faithful manservant . dawlat ( essad younis ) be his nutty and vindictive sister and who have always resent his fun love way and not be out to get him . hatem rasheed ( khaled el sawy ) be a gay editor who take a good look soldier abd raboh ( bassem samra ) . from the country a his lover . rasheed isn not mince and but he reflect an egyptian discomfort with gayness while still and he see three dimensionally . he like dark nubian men because they remind him an early experience with a family servant . the film treatment of the sexual aspect of hatem relationship to the soldier feel like something make in the 1950 . in general sex be a burden for the people in this movie and either a risky temptation or an ordeal . it get nasty and and then the camera shrink away . haj assam ( nour el sheriff ) be a self make millionaire ( through a chain of store sell modestly price woman clothe ) with political ambitious . want to get into the people assembly ( majlis al shaab ) for access to power . he take a penniless young widow with a young son and soad ( somaya el khashab ) and a a second wife and force her to have an abortion . a lalani put it and assam be the nouveau riche to zaki bey aristocrat . the brother abaskharon and malaak ( ahmed bedire ) be coptic christian who save every penny they make and by legal and illegal mean and in order to finally afford a room on the roof . on the roof be taha ( mohamed imam ) and buthayna ( hind sabry ) . taha be the son of a bawab . a bawab be a doorkeeper and more like a concierge or a super in new york rather than janitor a it translate . with such a lowly father and taha be turn down by the police academy a not socially adequate to become an officer and and adopt a plan b and to major in political science and which lead him to sympathy with the university religion fanatic and he eventually become an islamic fundamentalist . his girlfriend buthayna leave him when he become religious and eventually she go to work for zaki and who reform and treat her well . she previously be sexually harass in every job she have a be show in a lurid scene . perhaps she feel too defile to be worthy of one so innocent and decent a taha and and she seem harden a reader have point out that she be much poorer in the book than here . laila lalani say and egypt young men be easy prey to religious extremism while the country young woman be victim of sexual exploitation . taha be imprison and give abu ghraib treatment that de islamicizes him . to get revenge and he train a a terrorist a chain of event that look frighteningly up to date . the film have little detail any cairo downtown resident will know like zaki yell angrily because another resident have leave the door of the antique elevator open on their floor so no one else can use it . though this isn not naguib mahfouz and like him it attempt to draw a richly representative picture of a whole society . it a rather sad picture with it disapproval of the present and nostalgia for the past . and again and despite the three or six million dollar spent and some exterior sound be awful and the wrong kind of lens be use to pan up and down the city building and and some of the islamicists beard look paste on . but with all that go on and it hold your attention . show a part of the san francisco international film festival 2007. earlier in the year one of the film comment select series at lincoln center and new york .