Mohammed Dhaifallah- critical paper 2 "City of life" movie

The movie I choose is "City of Life". The film was directed and written by Emirati filmmaker Ali F Mustafa. It is the first feature Emirati film and it is a successful movie. According to official box office data from Italia Film International (2010), The film made AED509,085 ($138,598) in its first four days in release, April 22-26, which is more than what "Clash of the Titans" generated in the same weekend, AED4,087,043.  According to the director Ali (2010), Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktom liked the idea of "City of Life" and gave him open budget to achieve his dreams in the cinema, which is a great support of Emirati cinema.

Ali Faisal Mostafa Bin Abdullatif. Ali's mother is from the UK and his Father is from the UAE. He grew up in Dubai and his date of birth is 25 September 1981. Film has always been a central part of his life and since childhood. He has experimented making his own short films and mock TV ads. After he finished his higher education, he established a dissection from an obtainable company focusing on set and interior design. After that, he achieved and practiced his goal in film production when he enrolled at the London Film School in 2003 to gain an M.A. of practical training in film technique. Ali has worked on short films and TV commercials in all areas of production above 2 years, but directing was his place of interests. In his graduation, he makes a short film called "Under the Sun". This short film has been officially selected and nominated for the best Foreign in different international festivals across the world. Moreover, his short film won the best Emirates film 2006 In the Annual Emirates Film Competition held in the countries Capital, Abu Dhabi. Additionally, he won "Best Emirati Filmmaker" at the 4th Dubai International Film Festival 2007 and won "Young Filmmaker of the Year" at the Digital Studio Awards 2010. However, Ali started his first international journey by making his first international feature film "City of Life".

This film talks about a fortunate young Arab male at probability with his cultural identity, and his less fortunate street smart friend; a disillusioned Indian taxi driver who tolerate a strange similarity to a famous Bollywood star, and a former Romanian ballet dancer working as a flight attendant and searching for friendship and love. They all live in Dubai and their lives are about to crash for better or for worse.  In this city "Dubai" the goal development and chance are encouraged and dreams can still visible. This movie is a city drama that shows different intersections of multinationals people, and how these random interactions can irreversibly impact another's life. The name of the movie "City of Life" reflects the extremely humane kaleidoscope of meeting experiences which establishes a city that is in itself a living exciting character. However, it provides how unexpected tragedy and loss can change to hope and thoughtful transformation. It also looks at and pictures the complex network of multi cultural society's race, class divide and ethnicity.

              In this paper I choose to focus on the multi cultural society in Dubai and how the movie displays it. The main characters in the movie are chosen from different cultures: Emirati, Hindi, and Roman. Each one of them has his/her own story which reflects his/her believe and attitudes for being in this country. I will talk about the different cultures of the three main characters in the movie which are Saoud Al Kaabi, Sonu Sood, and Alexandra Maria Lara.

            The first character is Saoud Al Kaabi who plays the role of the rich Emirati guy "Fisal". The movie shows us how the UAE community is not equal in their level of income and wealth. Some of the wealthy people do not interact with those with lower level. For example, Saoud Al Kaabi's best friend, Khalfan, was from a lower wealth level. They are very close and go out together. However, the other wealthy local friends do not want Khalfan to be with them. The film also shows how Emirati guys stereotype the foreign women as they are unpresentable Russian women. For example, one of the local guys asked a foreign woman in the party" how much". Moreover, these wealth guys fear about their reputation, because they are known in this society. Additionally, wealthy guys do not want to work, they just depend on their father.

                The Second character is Sonu Sood who plays the role of the Hindi taxi driver" Basu". According to the official website of population in UAE, 16% of the populations are Asian. This movie shows how these poor people are suffering from the hard works with low salary and the bad treatment of the society to them. For example, when "Basu" knew that the foreign guy is working in advertising, he tried to talk to him, but the foreign guy did not listen to him.  Moreover, it shows how people dreaming in big things such being a Bollywood stars because it is the city of the dreams and everything is possible. Additionally, we see Hindi people live together in one area with their same community.

               The third character is Alexandra Maria Lara who plays the role of Romanian flight attendant lady "Natalia". This woman is from the middle class people in this society. The movie shows that she was looking for a love or a relationship. Her other friends are looking for the money and the entertainment with the Arab.  Additionally, the movie shows how these women become victims to the men because of their naivety. When "Natalia" becomes pregnant from the foreign guy, he forced and threatened her to abort the child. Moreover, the movie shows the power of some people because of their relations with important people in the city. The director did not use her to be specific to Romanian people in Dubai, but he refers the foreign people in general.

                  It is interesting to see this diversity in the movie which is exist in Dubai. How these people interact and what are their dreams. The director was successful in choosing multi cultures characters and using them to reflects the picture of life in Dubai. I think that it is a good start for the Emirati cinema. The film has encountered many of the criticisms about the story and how it shows Dubai's society. According to Mustafa (2010),"Personally, I don't think there is any negativity surrounding the film. It shows reality and puts Dubai on par with cities such as London and New York which have real problems. In my film, the stories are real and their problems are real too," Now he is working on a new movie about the relations between UAE and Lebanon. 

References:

Hajras, M. (2010, April 15). Mustafa Ali: the movie "City of Life" The Story of a global success and great     responsibility. Al Khalej newspaper. Retrieved from http://www.alkhaleej.ae/portal/6c47f010-d19b-4e5a-a7d8-c2591b8a2d94.aspx


McGinley, S. (2010, April 30). 'City of Life' makes AED500,000 in opening weekend. Arabian business. Retrieved from http://www.arabianbusiness.com/-city-of-life-makes-aed500-000-in-opening-weekend-155278.html

Wagner, T. (2010) City of life. Retrieved Nov 11, 2010, from: http://www.cityoflifefilm.com