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IN THE LAST DAYS OF THE CITY Cert (-) 117 mins
IT MIGHT seem unfocused but
Tamer El Said’s drama is worth sticking with. It’s 2009 and Khalid (Khalid Abdalla), a young-ish Egyptian documentary-maker, is emotionally stuck. He meets up with friends from Beirut and Baghdad, visits his mum in hospital, moons over his restless girlfriend Laila
(Laila Samy) and interviews an acting teacher, Hanan (Hanan Youssef ). Slowly, the various threads get plaited together.
Characters are either looking for a safe haven or on the brink of death. And Cairo, perhaps, is going to the dogs (we see workers’ strikes, Islamist marches, plus non-staged police beatings). Though Khalid and some of his pals are romantics the film is clear-eyed. Its whispered warning: civil war is grotesque and cities are less fragile than humans. husband and wife. Both are now in their eighties. She’s a bit of an egomaniac. He’s a grump. She seems energised by her memories. He seems depleted by talk of the past. Basically, he’s no longer a match for her. Yet via old footage and old routines (re-created by younger dancers) we witness the pair gloriously in sync. If you like tango, you won’t want this sad little film to end. of three intelligent, love-hungry Palestinian women living in Tel Aviv. It can be viewed in many ways. As a Palestinian Girls. As a twist on
Nadine Labaki’s Caramel. As an ode to Eric Rohmer’s Full Moon in Paris. Some will find it too political (Hamoud and her cast received death threats from religious conservatives). Some will think it’s not political enough. I was completely hooked.
The only duff note involves a sting to trap one of the women’s hypocritical boyfriends. In Between is a four-star film with a two-star faceoff. The downbeat ending (which sees the trio at their own party looking casually shell-shocked) is a much better fit. COS