THE OTHER

Tragedy, comedy, romance, intrigue, melodrama, politics, songs, dance, clan saga, even a blip of cyberpunk sci-fi ? THE OTHER has it all, and then some, in a genre-blending blockbuster feature emblematic of native Indio-mideastern commercial cinema in which every conceivable element is thrown into the mix. Yet, firing on all dramatic cylinders and pounding several hot buttons at once, Youssef Chahine's strange brew somehow manages to hold together and, for western eyes, scores a few keen sword-jabs. Adam, son of an Egyptian aristocrat and an American wife, returns home after studies at UCLA, intending to research the nature of terrorist fanaticism for the betterment of all. But at the airport he falls in love at first sight with Hanane, an intrepid and ambitious reporter for a Cairo paper. He's Christian, she's Muslim, and their whirlwind courtship occurs despite the machinations of Adam's insanely-possessive, treacherous mother and the rage of Hanane?s militant-Islam guerilla brother. Moreover, Hanane's big scoop is a massive public-works swindle in which Adam's family is involved up to their bejeweled earrings. Beneath the genre conventions of star-crossed lovers and gunplay is a potent lament for a modern Egypt, prey to both economic carpetbaggers and power-hungry fundamentalists. (In Arabic with Engish subtitles.)