أحلام المدينة
Dreams Of The City (1984)
DREAMS OF THE CITY (1984)
Mohammed Malas’ Dreams of the City was a momentous achievement upon its release in 1984. Aside from the vivid, poetic beauty of the plot and its characters, it was a mirror to the political climate of the era, a time when the Arab world was rich with turbulence, expectation and hope. The film plants this hope inside its young protagonist, who understands little of what’s happening in Damascus, the Syrian capital he moves to with his mother in the 1950s. The child’s experience is used as a stand-in for Malas’ own childhood, and the director cleverly paints a coming-of-age story within the social and political environment of the time. A tender, beautifully made film, Dreams of the City is a nostalgic letter to both bitter and better days. — MOHAMMED ROUDA
Country of Origin: Syria
Run Time: 2h
Language: Arabic
Rank in the list: 28th
Genre(s): Drama Biography
Synopsis
When his father dies, Dib, his younger brother and their mother (Yasmine Khlat) move away from their hometown Quneitra to Damascus. The mother’s despotic father reluctantly takes them in and tries to force the mother to remarry. Overwhelmed by the magic of the city, Dib wants to discover everything and is full of dreams. His daily life is shaped by insults and punishments however. Dib grows up against a backdrop of the political upheavals of the 1950s (the end of the military dictatorship in Syria and the nationalization of the Suez Canal, Nasser’s taking of power in Cairo, Egyptian and Syrian unification in 1958) and loses his childish illusions in the face of such violence and brutality. The dreams of the city prove to be a nightmare. Mohammad Malas’ partly autobiographical debut film marked the transition to auteur cinema in Syria.
Notable Cast and Crew
Mohamed Malas
Director
Yasmine Khlat
Cast (Mother)
Bassel Abiad
Cast (Dib)
Waha Al-Raheb
Cast
Ayman Zeidan
Cast
