Monday, September 13, 2010

"Cairo Time" on Movie Monday

Last week my movie-going took me on an absolutely amazing trip to Cairo with Patricia Clarkson and Alexander Siddig in "Cairo Time."

Before I went to the movie, I described it as a movie about a woman who goes to Cairo to visit her husband, but who ends up having to wait for him because he has been detained. And, instead, spends her time with a local diplomat with whom she may or may not end up having an affair.

When we finished the movie, and were standing in the parking lot, we both realized that we had absolutely no idea how to describe it.

I'm still in that position of having no idea how to describe it.

But here are some things you should know: The movie is gorgeous. The scenery is amazing. Patricia Clarkson is beautiful - and the director even allows her to look her age, which makes her that much more beautiful.

Overall, it's a quiet, languid movie. The background music is moving, without ever getting in the way. Time passes at an unknown speed, using just as much as the movie needs - not a moment more or less. And, by the time the movie was over, I wanted to come home and book a ticket to Egypt.

My movie-going partner said that as she watched the movie she wanted to reach out and touch things. I wanted to look around all the corners to see what we were missing.

Here's another thing about the movie I'm sure of: if you miss this movie, you'll miss a lot.

Overall grade: A. (It was almost an A+, but a few characters we liked faded in and out of the movie that I'd have loved to have seen more of.)

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