Cairo Time

When Patricia Clarkson (Shutter Island) appears on screen she comes across like someone you know. She could be your mother, an aunt, a sister, a friend, this familiar quality allows you to quickly identify with her and draw you into her story. In Cairo Time, I felt like I was in Egypt with her.

Patricia Clarkson plays the wife of a United Nations representative who is assigned to a refugee camp in Gaza. She has come to Cairo to meet her husband for a vacation. The last of her children have left home, and although she is busy running a magazine, she has taken time off to reconnect with her husband and see the pyramids. Something that they have promised to do together.

When her husband doesn’t meet her at the airport, Juliette is concerned, but he sends Tareq instead. Tareq (Alexander Siddig) is his former colleague who has recently retired. He nows lives in Cairo and runs a coffee shop that his father left him. Tareq is originally from Damascus and knows Egyptian culture well. He is the perfect choice to see after his wife.

Luckily, Juliette knows Tareq although they have never met. Mark and Juliette communicate often and Tareq is very highly spoken of. When Mark, (Tom McCamus) keeps getting delayed, Tareq delivers Juliette to her hotel and leaves her his number just in case. He assures her that her husband is fine and that he’ll be joining her soon, but the camp is having serious problems and Mark can not leave. Juliette is now alone in a strange country with customs she does not know. She is intelligent and independent but unprepared for her predicament. It is not long before she has to call on Tareq again.

Juliette was planning on doing an article to fill her time but the internet at her hotel is out. As she ventures down the street to an internet cafe, Juliette is an unescorted woman in Western clothes with blonde hair and bare legs. It doesn’t take long to feel the disapproval of the Muslim people and soon she shows up at Tareq’s restaurant for help. She can’t understand why everyone is staring at her until Tareq explains that this type of venue is only for men. She asked why no one told her and he replied that that would be rude. She had a lot to learn about Muslim culture.

As Mark continues to be delayed and Juliette can no longer stand being shut up in the hotel or harassed alone on the streets, Tareq takes a day off and escorts her around the city. Anywhere but the pyramids she insists. They even run into a friend of his, an old flame who has come to town to marry off her daughter. They are invited to the wedding and Juliette really wants to see Alexandria so they go. They have a wonderful day together and Juliette throughly enjoys the wedding. It is a magical time with everyone celebrating together.

In the beginning Juliette is put off by the heat, and disapproves of the poverty and the second class status of women. But seeing the world through Tareq’s eyes and then being invited to a wedding, she realizes that our cultures are more a like than different. She begins to fall in love with the country and her guide as well. The desert is an enchanting place.

What I appreciated the most about this film is that it is gentle, stays away from political agendas and allows us to fall in love with the county just like Juliette. We are not shielded from the ugliness, but it is put into perspective. Like any foreign culture it is easy to dismiss or criticize when you are looking for the outside in, but when you get off of your high horse and walk around, the view becomes much more authentic. This film is a love letter and I thoroughly enjoyed the journey. It was a privilege to share the culture of Egypt in such a beautiful, sensitive way.

Rating: First Run A love letter to Egypt