Our Favorite Patricia Clarkson Movie at SIFF

Cairo Time

IFC pictures

Walking and longing.

Details

Seattle International Film Festival Thurs., May 20—Sun., June 13. Tickets and schedule: 324-9996 and siff.net. Or visit box office at Pacific Place (second floor, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Mon.-Sat. and noon-6 p.m. Sun.).

Related Content

• 0SS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies
  December 28, 2011
• The Weekly Wire: This Week's Recommended Events
  January 4, 2012
• Cairo Time: Patricia Clarkson Is in Love With Egypt
  September 1, 2010
• The Weekly Wire: This Week's Recommended Events
  January 25, 2012
• The Princess Bride
  January 11, 2012

More About

• Cairo (Egypt)
• Patricia Clarkson
• Luc Montpellier
• Alexander Siddig
• Abu Dhabi

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Events Newsletter: What's happening in town? From underground club nights to the biggest outdoor festivals, our top picks for the week's best events will always keep you in on the action.

Privacy Policy Cancel Continue

Unabashedly a women’s picture, and one that dares address the romantic longings of a woman north of 40 (Patricia Clarkson), Cairo Timetakes the further risk of having her do very little but stroll around the city, waiting for her husband, and contemplating an affair. It’s a bit like the Sex and the City 2 ladies in Abu Dhabi—if you removed everything but the sand. Cairo Time is more of a mood piece, and very much a tribute to that city (beautifully photographed in wide screen by Luc Montpellier). Clarkson’s Juliette is an empty nester, her husband a UN official delayed for days at work, a woman who may not need to work—but it keeps the time at bay. In Cairo, she has nothing to do but sightseeing. And if she misses her husband a little, she’s fascinated by his handsome friend Tareq (Alexander Siddig, who had a long run on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and has become a go-to Arab in Syriana and other movies). He chaperones her about town, doesn’t say very much (no one says very much), and tempts her by doing very little tempting. The float on the Nile, play chess, visit the pyramids, attend a wedding—and the amazing this is that while this isn’t terribly eventful, it also isn’t exactly boring. It’s just … held, suspended between Juliette’s life back home and the life she might contemplate having. And if the movie doesn’t finally insist that women like her should leave their husbands, it will doubtlessly prompt many to begin planning trips to Egypt. (NR) BRIAN MILLER (Uptown: 7 p.m. Sun., May 30; and 12:30 p.m. Mon., May 31.)