To capture the essence of a city and have that be shown accurately in a film is a very hard feat to accomplish, but Tamir Said has done just that in his film In the Last Days of the City. Said was trying to capture the soul of Cairo two years before the outbreak of revolution in Egypt, and after watching the film I believe he did exactly that. We follow the story of a filmmaker in Cairo who is trying to find a new apartment. Through this story we are introduced to numerous new characters who bring in new elements to the overall story. There are scenes of protests and audio of radio announcements that show the buildup to the revolution but the storylines of the characters also create a tension and impatience in the audience. We find out a lot about the characters but the story feels like it is going somewhere and nowhere at the same time until the film is suddenly over. I believe that the story was told in this way to make the audience feel the impatience and tension that must have been felt in Cairo in the buildup to revolution.

Said also disperses short clips throughout the movie that bring to the viewers’ attention many social issues including poverty, women’s rights, and domestic violence. For example, there is a scene where a man is beating a woman, presumably his wife, and the main character catches it all on film from his apartment window. This scene is fictional but Said says he put it in the movie to raise an ethical question. To what extent does the main character (Khalid) have a right to film it? He is protected by his walls but the people he is filming are poor and do not have the same privacy that he does. They do not have a home with walls on all sides or a ceiling over their heads. But now that he has it on film, is he obligated to help or protect the woman?

I am Lebanese and I absolutely love the culture and the country. Being Middle Eastern allows me to see the Middle East in a different way than people who are not. It is not a scary place full of bombs and terrorists. It is more than that. In the interview portion after the movie, Said revealed that this movie has been shown in so many places around the world except in Cairo because it did not get clearance from the Egyptian government. I hope that it can be shown in Cairo sometime soon because I believe the people there would definitely appreciate this film the most.