The Yacoubian Building (2006) is a film that gives no quarter when it comes to the social and moral inadequacies that it displays throughout. With a large cast of primary characters who all have moral shortcomings or social issues they must deal with, this film uses these many combined stories as a basis to condemn and attack the fictitious Egyptian political party known as the “Patriotic Party.”
In the film, the “Patriotic Party” is a fictional version of the real Egyptian National Democratic Party which was the political party founded by Anwar El Sadat in 1978. This political party had uncontested full political power over the entire nation and was fiercely opposed by many Egyptians. Egypt was officially known as a multi-party system but Sadat’s NDP was basically the only meaningful party and it had authoritarian characteristics. “Corruption and nepotism contributed to the wasting of public money” (Shafik). The lack of democratic freedom for Egyptians due to the NDP’s power made the NDP very unpopular and controversial, and can be considered a major reason why this film was made. “However, the case of Egypt is more complicated” (Khatib). The corrupt one party system in Egypt was the leading factor in creating this state of affairs but it was far from the only thing.
The film as a whole is a rather scathing review of the state of Egypt and its current shortcomings because of the “Patriotic Party.” “The book focuses mainly on the residents of the Yacoubian building, a once-chic but now rundown edifice that acts as a metaphor for Cairo’s own deterioration” (Asfour). The Yacoubian Building used to be known for its wealthy residents and the lavish lifestyles they lived, but is now home to a whole new group of Egyptians, who are for the most part loathsome and hard to root for. This makes sense, keeping in mind that the residents themselves are also supposed to be used as a critique for Egypt and its people as a whole. The many subplots within the film may seem disconnected from one another but that is kind of the point because there are so many issues going on in Egypt and there surely will not be one solution to fix them all. “What all these sub-plots add up to is an aggregate portrait of corruption in Egyptian society – the extreme divisions between rich and the poor, and the convenient exploitation of the have-nots by the privileged classes” (Stehlik).
The director of The Yacoubian Building, Marwan Hamed describes the film’s main characters as decent people who are forced to do bad things because of their situation. These characters all seem to either be corrupt or corrupted via the society in which they find themselves and although they seem more like anti-heroes than characters to be rooting for, Hamed urges that they should be defended and that they are only products of their environment. Hamed goes on to say “The film shows the decay that imbues outside reality. Corruption has eaten its way into all areas of Egyptian life” (Stehlik).
Works Cited
Asfour, Nana. “THE YACOUBIAN BUILDING.” Book Reviews. Words Without Borders,
n.d. Web.
Khatib, Lina. Filming the Modern Middle East: Politics in the Cinemas of
Hollywood and the Arab World. London: I.B.Tauris, 2006. ProQuest ebrary. Web.
Shafik, Viola. Arab Cinema: History and Cultural Identity (New Revised Edition
(New Revised). Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 2000. ProQuest ebrary.
Web.
Stehlik, Milos. “Milos Stehlik Reviews the Egyptian Film “The Yacoubian
Building”” WBEZ 91.5 Chicago. Pritzker Foundation, 12 Feb. 2011. Web.
“The Yacoubian Building Director Q&A.” Vimeo. The Arab British Centre, 27 Sept.
2012. Web.
The Yacoubian Building. Dir. Marwan Hamed. Good News Group, 2006.
Through an Arabic Lens: the Intersection of Film and Culture 