Review of Arabic Movie Yomeddine

DIRECTOR :A.B. Shawky

RUNTIME :97 minutes

LANGUAGE :Arabic

CAST :Rady Gamal, Ahmed Abdelhafiz

Overview: Yomeddine is an sentimental but affecting ode to freindship among outcast.

Storyline: Yomeddine begins in a leper colony in the northern Egypt of present day, which Beshay (Gamal) has called home for nearly his entire life. He can remember being dropped off there by his father, as a young boy with a fabric bag over his face. But over time, his leprosy healed and he grew up, falling in love and getting married. Beshay rummages through an area called Garbage Mountain, collecting videotapes, scrap metal, and other items to sell, and he has a group of friends with whom he shares laughs and stories at the end of the day. Whatever life had been for him before his arrival in the leper colony is a distant memory.

But when his wife passes away and a relative of hers unexpectedly attends the funeral, Beshay begins to wonder whether he has family of his own, perhaps still living in the city of Qena, where he spent his childhood. Determined to connect with any remaining relatives, Beshay packs up all his belongings and guides his beloved donkey Harby south, along the Nile, unaware that a young orphan boy he’s befriended, Obama (Abdelhafiz), has stowed along. Together, they begin a journey that will put them in contact with Egyptians from all walks of life: Some attempt to swindle them, some befriend them, and most either ignore or fear them—an onslaught of mistrust and suspicion that drives the pair to their breaking point.

What happens next will they be able to reach the family and whether beshay’s family will accept him . This all is for the audience to watch.

Script Analysis & Director Review :Egyptian-Austrian director A.B. Shawky’s feature debut Yomeddine, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last year and was Egypt’s official entry for Foreign Language Film consideration at the 91st Academy Awards, is humanist filmmaking through and through. An often-sentimental road movie that tracks two outcasts across Egypt in search of home.

Shawky, directing from his own script, provides glimpses into various Egyptian communities and subcultures here, from the camaraderie and humor present in the leper colony to the somber unity of the mosque where Obama stops to pray to the scorn and disinterest of police officers and bureaucrats. Each and every angle is explored beautifully.

Performances: There’s a lovely chemistry between Gamal, who Shawky met at Egypt’s Abu Zaabal Leper Colony, and Abdelhafiz. Both first-time actors, they capture the dynamic of two people pushed away from society who genuinely grow to feel love for each other. They both have given powerfull performances.

Final Words : Such Movies open the world to different cultures of different countries. We should encourage such movies and must watch.