7.1 | / 10 |
Users | ![]() | 0.0 |
Reviewer | ![]() | 4.5 |
Overall | ![]() | 4.5 |
A woman arrives in Cairo to meet her husband only to be told he is unavoidably delayed in Gaza and has in turn sent his friend, a retired Egyptian U.N. security officer, to meet her at the airport. The brief love affair that follows catches them both completely off guard.
Starring: Patricia Clarkson, Alexander Siddig, Elena Anaya, Tom McCamus, Amina AnnabiRomance | Uncertain |
Drama | Uncertain |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English: LPCM 2.0
English SDH, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | ![]() | 4.0 |
Video | ![]() | 4.5 |
Audio | ![]() | 4.5 |
Extras | ![]() | 4.0 |
Overall | ![]() | 4.5 |
Since the recent "Arab Spring", mentioning Cairo is most likely to evoke images of protesters
gathering in Tahrir Square. But Cairo is a venerable city, built on ancient foundations composed
of countless layers of human endeavor laid down by generations long past. When Canadian
filmmaker Ruba Nadda first visited Cairo with her Arabic parents, who had emigrated to Canada
before she was born, the city spoke to her at such a visceral level that she remained determined to
make a film there through many years of difficulties logistical, bureaucratic and financial. But it
would not be a film about history or politics. It would be a simple human story told from the
perspective of an outsider, which Nadda is, even though she's of Arabic descent and speaks the
language. It would capture the mystery of Cairo without attempting to explain it. Indeed, that
very mystery would be part of a magical experience shared by people whose daily lives were
otherwise normal and routine.
Cairo Time is a small story told on a huge canvas, with the pyramids looming in the background,
the River Nile flowing by, and an active cityscape churning around the two characters at the heart
of the story. The film was shot entirely on location, and director Nadda seems endlessly amused
when asked (as she frequently is) about her "green screen" effects—of which there are none in
the movie. Those really are the views of the Nile from the hotel balcony where the film's heroine
stays (and the cast and crew stayed as well). That really is how Cairo appears from the taxis and
private autos in which the characters ride (and into which Nadda and her cameraman squeezed to
get the shots). And those aren't extras milling about in the streets or seated at the tables in coffee
houses; they're citizens of Cairo who just happened to be there that day and, in many instances,
were persuaded to play along with a film crew by a petite Arabic-speaking woman from Canada
who also happened to be a director determined to get her shot.
Probably because it was a native creation, Cairo Time received a Blu-ray release in Canada
almost a year before the U.S. The Canadian release from Mongrel Media was reviewed here by Dr. Svet Atanasov. The U.S. version is noteworthy for adding a lossless DTS soundtrack and
more extras, which means, at the very least, that this disc from MPI Media Group (for IFC Films)
has been reauthored. (Since I do not have the Mongrel Media disc for comparison, I cannot say
whether the same transfer has been used.)
This isn't green screen.
Cinematographer Luc Montpellier's colorful, detailed photography of Cairo and its environs sparkles on MPI's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray of Cairo Time, which shows the city in all its hot and dusty glory. Black levels are solid, contrast is appropriate, colors are rich and varied, and detail is excellent throughout, even in scenes of scorching heat. (The production shot primarily in early morning and late afternoon to avoid the worst extremes of temperature and sunlight.) On my 72" screen, I saw only an occasional hint of video noise and nothing to indicate any high frequency filtering, artificial sharpening or compression issues. As with nearly all contemporary productions, the film was finished on a digital intermediate, which effectively eliminates any print-related defects.
Where the chief criticism of the Mongrel Media disc was the absence of a lossless audio track
and subtitles, the MPI disc offers a lossless audio track in DTS-HD MA 5.1, along with English
SDH and Spanish subtitles. Cairo Time has an active and immersive sound mix that is evident
from the very opening of the film when Patricia Clarkson's Juliette steps into the Cairo airport
and is immediately hit with a barrage of local sound that surrounds both her and the listener. This
effect prevails throughout the film, especially when the characters are outside on the streets of the
city. The soundtrack is constantly reminding you of the presence of a busy metropolis, complete
with traffic, car horns, voices and other distance noises to your left and right. Tareq's coffee bar
and the wedding of Yasmeen's daughter also provide interesting opportunities for immersive
sound effects.
The counterpoint to this aggressive use of effects is the achingly romantic score by Irish
composer Niall Byrne. It sounds beautiful on the lossless track, as does the Arabic music that
frequently plays as source music and that Juliette comes to love.
Extras marked with an asterisk are new to this edition.
Cairo Time is deliberate, even languorous, in its pacing, and it sometimes has the very hypnotic
effect that being deposited in a hot, arid foreign city for an indefinite stay would be likely to
induce in most Westerners. But that very effect is an essential element of the film, because it
somehow deepens the impression left by the small gestures, the looks exchanged, and the
pregnant silences between two characters (and two actors) who can convey volumes without
talking too much. Director Nadda has enough confidence in her script, her locale and her two
leads to let their story unfold at its own leisurely pace, rather than try to pump "energy" into it
with frantic cutting and "script doctoring" to "punch up" dialogue that needed no further
explanation. Juliette and Tareq linger in the memory precisely because their encounters have not
been muddied by such contemporary studio techniques. Both the film and the disc are highly
recommended.
(Still not reliable for this title)
2016
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1934
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Fox Studio Classics
1949
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Warner Archive Collection
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Warner Archive Collection / Includes German-Language Alternate Version
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Remastered | Paramount Presents #15
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