january 2002. alaa el aswani first novel and omaret yacoubian and be publish . within a few month and it have take the egyptian book world by storm . and it easy to know why . the book be almost exclusively about the 3 taboo in the arab literature while politics and sex ( hetero and homo ) and and religion . fast forward to june 2006. unless you have be live on another planet for the past 2 year or so and you must have heard of the movie adaptation of the book . seriously and it be nearly impossible to escape the following headline yacoubian be the big egyptian film of all time and de niro say the film be a masterpiece and yacoubian get huge raf at cannes and etc . in my opinion and that be one of the film big problem while the filmmaker set the bar too high for themselves . so and i walk in expect to see a breakthrough in film making . what i get be a great and although flaw and film . so and i be somewhat disappointed . i do not like wahid ham adaptation of the book . the spirit of the novel be there and and the film be much more humorous and but unfortunately and that be it . maybe because ham have to fit the script and so that the big star get the big part and all the secondary character ( soaad and dawlat and malaak and etc . ) end up with almost no screen time . therefore and these character come off a 2 dimensional and their action do not make a lot of sense . for example and in the book and soaad be almost a beggar . she constantly ask her friend and relative for money . in the film and she a middle class secretary . that why i never understood why she would agree to be separate from her own son and and marry an old man just for some cash . another example would be how someone come out of nowhere to kill off one of the main character . director marawan ham do a great job . yacoubian be his first full length feature and but he helm it like a veteran . his camera move smoothly and his cut be all in the right place and and he shin in the large scale ( protest and training and and shootout ) scene . i be really look forward to his next picture . adel emam ( zaki el dessouky ) be amaze . his turn ( his best in age ) be funny yet heartfelt . khaled saleh ( kamal el fouli ) and khaled el sawy ( hatem rashid ) be also great . in fact and i think mohamed emam ( taha el shazly ) be the only cast member who give a so so performance . anyway and he still a newbie ( this be his first film ) and so he will probably give good performance in the future . yacoubian be one of the most expensive egyptian film of all time and and fortunately and the money be on the screen . the costume and make up and set be all top notch . khaled hammad score be good and but i felt it be overly dramatic in some place ( a full orchsetra play while 2 people be merely talk . ) so and i would definitely recommend watch the yacoubian building . it the best egyptian film in quite some time and and with a good adaptation and it could have be a masterpiece .