User Reviews

I've known Alexander Siddig from playing Dr. Bashir on "Star Trek; Deep Space Nine". I've seen Patricia Clarkson in "Jumanji" and "Vicky Christina Barcelona". Both these two actors unite to give us a very touching love story set in the background of Cairo.

Egypt is a timeless land that has had history's touch upon it even as it enters the new millennium. People's lives are bound to the countryside as well as the old cities modernized with technology. Ruba Nadda, a young Canadian film maker, has set her newest story in the city of Cairo. It concerns the clash of two very different cultures, and how the past and present collide to form such a layered city as Cairo. As well as showing us wonderful scenes within the city, we are given exceptional cinematography of the surrounding countryside. The White Desert and the Pyramids stand out, etched out in the land, seemingly by giants who preceded modern civilization.

The film follows Juliette, a middle-aged woman arriving in Egypt. She would have been with her husband, but he is away on a mission for the UN. Her two children have grown up and have moved into adult phases of their lives. She is left to see the city by herself, aided by an old friend of her husband's: the middle-aged Egyptian Tariq, a retired policeman who now owns a coffee shop in Cairo. He helps Juliette out of his friendship to the absent Mark, and Juliette is intrigued by this soft-spoken man. Their feelings inevitably grow into affection, but the gradual steps taken to that stage is what makes the movie so tender and well made. Juliette's explorations of Cairo and the people that live within its shadow give us a view into the foreign culture that lies waiting to be discovered.

If Juliette must carry the movie, she is supported by some well-made characters. Tariq is clearly the prominent of these, but there is also Yasmeen, the former love interest of Tariq who wants to rekindle the relationship, and Kathryn, a kindly woman who leads Juliette on a trip in the White Desert outside of the city. And of course, there is the ever absent Mark, who is continually held away from his wife.

To say that this is a sentimental piece that tugs on heart-strings is redundant. However, it has a life of its own beyond the stereotypes of the genre, brought about by the fantastic chemistry between Patricia Clarkson and Alexander Siddig. The two of them are professional actors and give us a love story that rivals the epic romance "Out of Africa" or the low-key "Lost in Translation".

Ruba Nadda also provides us with a well-written script that feels natural to the actors' tongues and the audience's ears. The mood of the film seems whimsical and light-hearted, especially during the scenes between the two leads, but there is a serious undertone played into the film. Questions are silently presented, aimed against such themes as love, fidelity, culture, and loneliness. Both characters are certainly lonely: Tariq has isolated himself from those that loved him, withdrawing into a kind of politeness that seems to discourage intimacy, while Juliette is isolated from her friends, her work, children, and her husband. Both need human contact, even as both must come to terms with their lives and what has come out of it all.

This small Canadian production has received a number of positive reviews, and has also won the Best Canadian Feature Award at the Toronto Film Festival. While I have certainly not seen all the Canadian films this year, I can definitely say that this was worthy of such an award. English Canadian cinema is so over-shadowed by Hollywood that one wonders if such cinema exists when compared to Quebec's film industry. However, once in a while, one can find such gems as this production, and be content to know that being Canadian means laying claim to truly great films such as this one.

I enjoyed seeing the movie, but it is hard to describe why in words. Is it the music, the scenes of Cairo, the magical pyramids, the performance of the actors, the unhurried pace? I don't know why I enjoyed the movie so much. Not one part of the movie is that spectacular. I grew up in the Middle East and heard the beautiful voice of Um Kalthoum a thousand times, encountered the sexual harassment on the streets and seen busy bazaars. Nothing in the movie was such a surprise for me. Yet somehow when you put all these elements together with the fantastic actors, it just works. I left movie theatre feeling uplifted and optimistic. The movie is visual poetry.

Very well-cast crew. Incredibly perceptive and observant director. Took me back to Cairo. Alexander Siddiq is so cute in this movie. Its good to see a movie that does not follow the typical Hollywood American action crap with a climax and a happy ending.

This movie in my opinion was not a typical movie with a plot but more like a trip to Cairo. A sweet memorable trip very identical to my trip and experience there last year, minus the lovely Alexander..

Well done Rubba. Keep them coming... wouldn't mind watching a Granada time or Barcelona time..Beirut time or Istanbul or Kathmandu time...if u can do the same thing with those cities, u'r my hero...

Cairo Time could be the solution to the date movie, so subtle and full of empathy it has no time for anything that might embarrass the person you are with and you'll have something to talk about later. I saw it alone for logistical reasons, but from the middle of the second row it was quite emersive. I'm no Cairofile; all I know is that the place has pyramids and a funny word for the water pipes they smoke. Those things are touched upon, but the movie avoids becoming a travelogue. Patricia Clarkson (The Green Mile) arrives for a vacation with her United Nations honcho husband Mark only to find he isn't there. He'll be busy in Gaza for a while (which is never played for a joke although we get the idea that settling things in Gaza could take a while). Alexander Siddig (Dr. Bashir from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) a former co-worker of Mark meets her instead and acts as a guide where he can. He would show her the pyramids right away, but she has promised her husband to see them for the first time with him. We might be able to guess where this is heading, but the surprise is that scenes that might not read as 2009 ADD generation content is actually loaded and engaging. We are waiting for tea to steep and not getting bored. Clarkson takes on more of a glow as the movie goes on, but in the early scenes it is her character Juliette's vulnerability that has our focus. A bunch of random flirtations from guys on the street might be a minor irritant in the USA or Toronto's Annex neighbourhood, but here there is a growing sense of jeopardy which reinforces the bubble of trust Siddig's character creates. For another character to burst that bubble by violating the camera frame with a sudden lunge from the teaming masses would be a shame, an intrusion of reality. And yet the film is very realistic as to the unexpressed aspect of life that can turn a bland setting into a postcard perfect image depending who you are with. The director Ruba Nadda spoke after the Varsity cinema screening I attended and it is remarkable that amid the strategies needed to pull off this movie she managed to maintain such a subtle focus. It is nice that also Christine Vachon's brand is there as a producer to suggest how subtlety in a movie might even be considered quirky. But it definitely has the patience and quiet faith in detail that mark Ruba Nadda's previous movie Sabah. I would love to read a diary publication about the making of Cairo Time. From content to execution it is apparently a film only Ruba could have made - it has both ethnic trappings with gravitas and an accessible romantic, dramatic structure of entertainment.

the movie was really good Um Kalthoum's great songs were amazing background music for the movie and Abdel Halim Hafez's too, the marvelous sites of Egypt and the sound of the Adan (the call for the Muslim prayer) all were fantastic...but as an Egyptian there were some stuff that were not realistic to me.

First was the accent of Tarek in the movie it wasn't Egyptian at all..

Second it only showed the crowded messed streets of Cairo and describing Cairo as "such a mess" disappointed me as an Egyptian living in Cairo, it didn't show the neat sites like Maadi, Heliopolis or Zamalek which the hotel supposed to be located at, which I believe must be a five stars hotel being by the Nile yet bizarrely the receptionists were not working at night which was extremely weird and doesn't happen at any place in the world!!!

Ruba Nadda wanted to convey a specific ancient image of Cairo but this can't be the whole image about Cairo now,, that movie would be realistic but 50 years ago..

Cairo Time is an exquisite feast for the eyes, ears and eventually, the heart. Ruba Nadda takes us on a tour of Cairo which flows so well because it appears complete even down to such minute details such as showing street children selling bobby pins, a wild motorcycle driver nearly hitting the film's heroine, and Egyptian hit songs playing on a taxi's radio. In contrast with the high energy scenes of Cairo's bustling city life are dreamy, beautifully composed shots of the city's classical architecture, the Egyptian pyramids and The White Desert, all which give the impression that they are frozen in time. But, the time in Cairo Time is hardly stagnant. The film's stunning images, rich music and moving love story about a bored workaholic Canadian married woman whose passion for love and life is awoken by her relationship with a Egyptian man interplay so beautifully that the film appears seamless. Patricia Clarkson (Juliette) and Alexander Siddig (Tareq) convincingly play a couple whose professional relationship transforms into a love relationship over time. Both actors show off their fine acting skills by expressing the characters' love for each other through their subtle uses of body language and eye contact. Each views the other as a kind of "forbidden fruit", yet neither one can hide their desire for the other. The quiet intensity of their passion is almost deafening. Cairo Time works because it does so well what many other contemporary films don't do. It takes you to another place and time, one of the main reasons we go to the movies.

It's another Lost In Translation (2003) story happened in Cairo, without any twist and turn, this essayistic flick patiently stews about 90 minutes, and perturbs our mind by the low- pitched performance by two leads.

Set in Cairo, a city I haven't been yet but intrigues me in a fascinating way, I am prone to love the film since the first scene, there are no big conflicts in the film, a married middle-age woman meets a gentle and charming local man in an exotic place, they have feelings towards each other but the most intimate behavior between them is restricted to a courteous kiss. The whole process of how the two people fall for each other is the keystone of the film, the director/writer Ruba Nadda succeeds in maintaining a comfortable tempo for the spectators to enjoy it.

I am very impressed by Patricia Clarkson's acting skills, she is one of the most underrated actresses of this era, finally she has got a precious leading role in her long career, it is astonishing to see a forebearing exposition of mental turbulence instead of showyness, her acting is subtle and touching, which is a perfect example of interpreting a charming woman who deserves to be loved and matures enough to control her sensibilities under the threshold of her criterion. She is cracking into my top 10 list of Best Leading Actress of 2009 without a doubt. Her counterpart, the unknown Alexander Siddig, also contributes his personal enchantment to build the romantic atmosphere convincing and even sympathetic.

As a chic flick about a renascent love feelings at the middle-age, I am content with the uneventful ending, we are learning from life at whatever age, she broke a promise to exchange an everlasting memory, the woman did know how to make a deal.

About two scenes worth of plot and dialog function as an excuse to string together a couple of hours of beautiful footage of Cairo. Our heroine is placed in an impossible situation, met at the airport by an attractive, exotic swarthy debonair 'Middle Eastern' guy when she is expecting her husband. Alone in Cairo pursued by lecherous, uncivilized types whenever she leaves her hotel room. Virtuous super hero husband interminably delayed saving free world in nearby Gaza refugee camp - impossible to resent neglectful spouse, even as he stands her up for days and days. What's a hard working, repressed, glamorous, New York, magazine writer to do? Coy titillation ensues as relationship with brainy Egyptian hunk with car and time on his hands slowly develops. Though 'develops' definitely overstates what occurs. Perhaps most distressing is the dialog. No one says anything that is not banal, the one Arabic word she learns early on is endlessly repeated. Put on some appropriate music, turn off the sound, and display as background to conversation. What a waste of a good actress.

Cairo Time is beautifully filmed - like a love poem to Egypt. I adored the slower pace of the movie because it felt like it gave me a chance to breathe, to enjoy the gorgeous scenery, and sink into the feeling of the movie. It was wonderfully nostalgic of many of the things I experienced on a trip to Egypt I took 2 years ago, and I found myself laughing out loud a few times, remembering.

I was also reminded of the allure of Egyptian men - yes, they are very obvious, in-your-face, and verbal to women, which I'm not used to as a Canadian woman. Yet paradoxically, many are very much gentlemen, cordial. I liked seeing this in Tareq's character, as he put Juliette on a pedestal which you really come to feel she deserves.

I also liked how the love story was actually quite innocent and told a story of pure love and appreciation for a fellow human being. It felt like it portrayed exactly those moments of stillness and deep feeling that we only share with select few in our lifetimes. Experiences that we recall with our eyes closed...like secret, subtle moments the heart remembers and cherishes.

Cairo Time (2009)

A simple, slightly elegiac tale of an American woman lost in time as she waits in Cairo for her diplomat husband to arrive from Gaza. She is only vaguely interested in the culture around her at first, and is even surprised (which surprised me) that she was revealing too much hair and skin on the streets for the Muslim standards there. But as she learns the feel of the place, she also learns to appreciate it. And an Egyptian man, an old friend of her husband's, begins to take her for little jaunts around the city and nearby in the country to give her the real feel of life there.

And that is all! Yes, and it's a good thing. It's never quite slow or boring, so don't fret that, but it's not a melodrama, nor is some big twist of events about to happen. There are times when the writing hits a bump, or when the actors behave a bit outside a natural flow, but when it's on its stride, it has a wonderful feel and it's like traveling a bit yourself.

Patricia Clarkson was an odd choice for the leading role, in a way, though in part it is her very fair skin and blond-red hair that set up a vivid contrast to the men all around her. But she is (in other roles) often filled with spirit and sass, and here she is so laid back and almost lifeless it's disconcerting. Her counterpart, the wonderfully poised if also wooden Alexander Siddig, creates the idea of the polite man selflessly helping a friend's wife. And it is this selflessness that eventually impresses the woman.

Something more could have been attained here, and you can feel it close to happening. I think the intention was some kind of deep love born out of the purest kindness, and it patiently develops. The little bit of travelog built in is nice in some ways but it feels slightly intentional, like we are meant to enjoy that aspect on top of the plot, but it dilutes it —the sidetrips should have felt completely incidental, as were the more common scenes of modern Cairo which were fascinating from this New Yorker's poor point of view.

Take it all in perspective, I guess, another lesson built into this imperfect but well- intentioned story.

It's interesting how Canada turns its attention to so far destination like Egypt, specially city as Cairo, which was rarely have been attractive pint for foreign movies production. The culture of Cairo is a bit closed, but in the Global communication times become more open to the world trends and more recognizable. The movie has a foreign point of view : of the woman, who come to Cairo, searching for her husband. She feel amazed from the ordinary life in Cairo, specially the "street life"; For her this city means something exotic and extraordinary, out of the rules, and little out of the world which she knows. In this way she feels happy, also knowing a young man from Cairo (friend of her husband), who support her is sight seeing and discovering the taste of Cairo life. The scenes are made in soft light, slow action and feelings of the social surrounding. The woman wants to escape in the charm of the city, she dive into the unknown emotions of new love, fascinating from views of the town. My favorite scene is at hotel, she is going to her room, alone, opening her window and enjoying the incredible view of Cairo in light, sounds, and prayers. It contains strong reality, even in documentary way. It's very original and special point of view to the ancient-modern Cairo, and to the foreign sense to it.

The storyline is not bad; a UN Official's wife is stranded alone in Cairo after her husband is called away. Being an attractive woman alone in an exotic setting gets to her. A friendship develops with one of her husband's friends which might turn into something more. Although the movie starts a little slowly, it picks up the pace later. It is one of those sensitive artsy movies, but it isn't in a coma. It's not clinically depressed. (If you've seen a lot of Focus film, you might have a concern about that.) The reviews are not inflated. The cinematography is good. The visuals are enjoyable. The main character stays in an elegant old hotel and floats around in lovely dresses.

The surprise was Cairo. The filmmaker shows us a city that looks like a magic dream. The characters also venture out to a luminous place called the White Desert. The Pyramids also appear. I thought they'd be a tourist trap, but the characters seem to have them to themselves.

I don't recall anything that would upset children or sensitive people. I don't recall nudity, sex or violence. There are some scenes where men follow the main character on the street and harass her. There are a lot of scenes where people smoke hookahs with tobacco in them.

Overall, I'd recommend this movie to people that like art movies or travelogues.

Juliette Grant (Patricia Clarkson) travels from America to Cairo to meet her husband Mark (Tom McCamus), who belongs to the high echelon of UN and is settling refugees in Gaza. On the arrival, Juliette is welcomed by Tareq Khalifa (Alexander Siddig), an Egyptian that had worked with Mark and now is retired.

Mark has a problem in Gaza and can not come to Cairo, and the gentle Tareq invites Juliette to sail in the Nile and visit the pyramids. Juliette learns that she can not walk alone on the streets of Cairo since she is offensively harassed by the male locals, and she sightsees the city with Tareq. The proximity with her husband's friend and his attention to her make Juliette too attracted for Tareq. Will they have a love affair?

"Cairo Time" is a delicate and sensitive romance about companionship evolving to romance for mature audiences. Immediately after watching this pleasant film, I said to myself: this is certainly a film directed by a woman… and I was right. The sensitiveness of the director and author Ruba Nadda is impressive.

"Cairo Time" has magnificent cinematography and locations and the underrated Patricia Clarkson is excellent and with a perfect chemistry with Alexander Siddig. The music score is very beautiful and the conclusion of the affair of Juliette and Tareq is stunning. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Meus Dias no Cairo" ("My Days in Cairo")

(2009) Cairo Time DRAMA

Written and directed by Ruba Nadda that has ravishingly charismatic Patricia Clarkson as Juliett, travels to Cairo for the purpose of spending time with hubby who works for the UN. Waiting for her there, is her husband's ex-assistant Alexander Siddig playing as the Egyptian born Tareq Khalifa, who just shows her around. While Juliett is waiting for her husband, it is then she build a rapport with Tareq which is all you're going to expect! This basic backdrop is no more than an excuse than to showcase the many gorgeous sights, customs such as a marriage ceremony and to introduce some of it's problems regarding Cairo, basically stuff you can see on some 'vacation channel' or a travel brochure of some another, meaning that it demands the right frame of mind to fully appreciate this! There's even a small reference about how dangerous it could be if a woman were to walk alone on the streets with a group of men. Also, has similar themes from such films as "The Bridges of Madison County" and "Lost in Translation.

"Cairo Time" is inept and inert, a criminal waste of talent and material. Alexander Siddig is handsome and charismatic as Tareq, an Egyptian café owner who shepherds a married American tourist, Juliette, (Patricia Clarkson) around Cairo. Patricia Clarkson is beautiful and wears her many dresses well.

The film's publicity compares it to "Brief Encounter." Not a chance. There is no chemistry between Tareq and Juliette. This is the fault of Ruba Nadda's lifeless script and direction so inert you wonder if she has fallen asleep behind the camera and the actors are too polite to wake her.

There are shots of the pyramids. There are scenes where characters stroll through an exotic bazaar, smoke hookahs, and dance at a wedding. There is a scene where men harass Juliette on the street. Juliette almost seems to like it; this takes on an ugly tone in the wake of the notorious Tahrir Square assault on Lara Logan. There is an entirely gratuitous scene that depicts Israelis in a negative way. Remarkable, because the film has no plot to speak of, but the director managed to work in her prejudices. These scenes ramble without reaching any point. There is zero dramatic tension. You don't wonder what's going to happen next – you pretty much know that *nothing* is going to happen next.

"Cairo Time" is an extraordinary waste of talent and material. Alexander Siddig is a charismatic star. I wish he had been given something, anything, to do. There is so much potential in the material. Say something about a potential romance between a Muslim man and an American woman. Say something about the potential of extramarital love. Say something at all! The film never does.

Québécois writer and director Ruba Nadda favors stories that deal with love between Muslim and non-Muslim and her latest film CAIRO TIME follows that path - to an extent. According to Nadda she views this film as a 'luscious, serene, languid romance', a story that crosses two unlikely and emotionally unavailable people who approach momentary bliss in the beauty of Cairo. It is a slow film, the type of movie that encourages the viewer to sit back and enjoy an adult romance.

Juliette Grant (Patricia Clarkson) arrives in Cairo for a vacation with her UN employee husband Mark (Tom McCamus) only to discover that Mark is in Gaza on 'business': she discovers the information from a retired ex-assistant to Mark, Tareq Khalifa (Alexander Siddig), who offers her honest companionship until Mark returns. Tareq now owns a coffee house and spends his days playing chess. Juliette meets Kathryn (Elena Anaya), another associate of Mark, who offers her company, but Juliette prefers to be alone. The magic of Cairo - the smells, the muezzin calls to worship, the street shops, the sunsets - all begin to work on Juliette's lonely mood and she wanders into the city, fends off young men's attentions, and encounters Tareq in his coffee house (a men only club). Tareq offers to show her Cairo, especially the pyramids, but Juliette says she promised Mark to share those with him. A trip down the Nile and walks in the fascinating city draw Juliette and Tareq together, and when the two encounter Yasmeen (Amina Annabi), a friend and ex-lover of Tareq, the two are invited to Yasmeen's daughter's wedding in Alexandria. Telephone calls from and to Mark reveal that Mark will be delayed in Gaza, and after Juliette makes an attempt to travel to Gaza to see Mark and is prevented by the military she returns to Cairo, determined to make the best of her extended stay there. She goes to Alexandria with Tareq, they enjoy the wedding, and when they return to Cairo they mutually decide to visit the pyramids. The magic is there and the longing between them is palpable, but as soon as they return, Mark appears at the hotel. The Cairo time is over and the viewer is left guessing how the emotions generated by the time and place will play out.

Among the many lovely details of this film are views about the gender barriers in the Middle East and the customs of a city that, while modern, is still a culture of men. As Juliette and Tareq wander the streets of Cairo we recognize subtleties that exist, subtleties that director Nadda never forces. The gorgeous cinematography is by Luc Montpellier and the musical score is by Niall Byrne. This film is more a poem than a story, a welcome change from the usual youngster-oriented love stories and more of a mature episode of ageless flirtation. Grady Harp, August 10

Magazine editor Juliette Grant (Patricia Clarkson) has arrived in Cairo to see her husband Mark. He's delayed in Gaza and she gets picked up at the airport by UN security officer Tareq Khalifa (Alexander Siddig).

This is good for some leisure time with Cairo or Patricia Clarkson. Cairo is exotic. Clarkson is lovely. Siddig is not always there for the first half. That makes that half an interesting excursion with some interesting detours. The second half has more Siddig and I become uncertain. She is married after all. If anything, she longs to be with her husband more. Therefore it's not possible to ship these two. The question becomes where is the drama? What is the drama? Is there drama? In the end, it's not the letter, or the companion, or the reunion. It is being there.

I really liked viewing the scenery around Cairo.

But... the plot and execution of the story just make no sense. Juliette (Patricia Clarkson) goes to Cairo to meet up with her husband, but is left stranded in Cairo when her husband has pressing issues to deal with as the U.N. manager of a refugee camp in Gaza. Apparently her husband has been involved in such activities for a long time. One would think that Juliette, would have TALKED to her husband and would have SOME knowledge of the culture into which she is arriving. But NO! Not only that, she is supposedly an editor of a major magazine dealing with cultural issues, and one would THINK, that in that role she would know something about differences in culture. But NO! Juliette in Cairo and has not a clue as how to dress, where to go, what to do or NOT to do. And once she has encountered problems with the way she dresses, she continues to dress inappropriately and violate cultural norms. She even seems to have a new and inappropriate stylish outfit for each scene! How did such a stupid woman get to be an editor of a major magazine? The whole plot is incredulous! Nevertheless, I was actually happy to see the movie and the scenery just not the scenes.