I had the pleasure to see the movie at Toronto International Film Festival.
Microphone is one of these rare movies that has this distinct way of expressing something new to you.
The movie revolves around "Khaled" who came back from USA to Egypt. He meets with underground hip hop rappers and singers around Alexandria where he discovers a new world of talent and art that still didn't come to the surface and is not public to everyone. He sees talent; he wants to give these young artists the opportunity to become something bigger and the story goes on from here. Of course, he has his emotional problems with his ex and he is trying to manage around it.
Some of the characters in the movie are actually real and they use their real names like all the hip hop artists. And also, some of their side stories are also true.
So,being from Alexandria, the movie was very interesting to me as to see a very different kind of people, and seeing the city from a different perspective in the underground world.
Ahmed Abdallah, the director, did a very good job with showing a lot of new talent around the city. He also expressed a lot of emotions with different characters and different side stories.
the soundtrack was also great as it was not produced by one artist and it was not produced for the movie. they took already finished songs from the bands that appeared in the movie which gave the movie a different taste with a scent of originality.
the only downside for the movie was its length its longer than two hours and actually I thought it ended at one point but then they added another 15 minutes that also brought to the same conclusion again so it was not that much of an addition and I think the movie could managed without the last 15 minutes.
So, in my opinion, it's a must see for any fans of Egyptian cinema or anyone who would like a closer look at the underground Alexandria or Egypt and I can say that it is arguably the best Arabic movie of 2010.
Microphone is one of these rare movies that has this distinct way of expressing something new to you.
The movie revolves around "Khaled" who came back from USA to Egypt. He meets with underground hip hop rappers and singers around Alexandria where he discovers a new world of talent and art that still didn't come to the surface and is not public to everyone. He sees talent; he wants to give these young artists the opportunity to become something bigger and the story goes on from here. Of course, he has his emotional problems with his ex and he is trying to manage around it.
Some of the characters in the movie are actually real and they use their real names like all the hip hop artists. And also, some of their side stories are also true.
So,being from Alexandria, the movie was very interesting to me as to see a very different kind of people, and seeing the city from a different perspective in the underground world.
Ahmed Abdallah, the director, did a very good job with showing a lot of new talent around the city. He also expressed a lot of emotions with different characters and different side stories.
the soundtrack was also great as it was not produced by one artist and it was not produced for the movie. they took already finished songs from the bands that appeared in the movie which gave the movie a different taste with a scent of originality.
the only downside for the movie was its length its longer than two hours and actually I thought it ended at one point but then they added another 15 minutes that also brought to the same conclusion again so it was not that much of an addition and I think the movie could managed without the last 15 minutes.
So, in my opinion, it's a must see for any fans of Egyptian cinema or anyone who would like a closer look at the underground Alexandria or Egypt and I can say that it is arguably the best Arabic movie of 2010.