ANCIENT pyramids silhouetted against scorching desert sun, rosewater-infused thick, black coffee, cinnamon-scented air, elaborately bejewelled galabeyas and headscarves in vibrant hues of magenta and cyan, and the reverberating azaan.
Welcome to the beguiling kaleidoscope of colours and cacophony of soundscapes so intoxicatingly captured in Cairo Time, a romantic drama and dreamy ode to the historic Egyptian capital.
Juliette (Patricia Clarkson, in her first genuine lead role) is a 50-something Canadian magazine editor who arrives in Cairo for a holiday with her husband, a UN official working in Gaza.
When he is delayed, he calls on old friend and former security guard Tareq (Alexander Siddig) to look after his wife, who finds herself trapped in her hotel room overlooking the majestic Nile, and desperately wanting to explore the magic outside.
And so she does, with Tareq - like a knight in shining armour - gently guiding her through a pulsating ancient metropolis of 17 million people.
More used to working 12-hour days and the general rat race of Western existence, Juliette - who is initially resistant to the city's charms - gradually learns to live and act on “Cairo time” - work to 3pm, head to the local coffee house to meet with family and friends and lose herself in the moment.
Before too long, she finds herself falling under Cairo's spell, and that of the refined and handsome Tareq.
Syrian/Canadian writer and director Ruba Nadda has delivered a seldom seen restrained love story between a Muslim man and Caucasian woman in a setting rarely captured on film, all the while challenging wide-held Western perceptions of the Arabic world.
Bringing the tale to life are cinematographer Luc Montpellier's dazzlingly framed snapshots and Niall Byrne's compelling musical score, which lures and seduces like the aroma of a hookah pipe.
Sadly, an abrupt, unresolved ending to this intense but brief love affair, set among the exotic environs of Egypt, jolts us back to our Western realism of deadlines, meetings and bills.
I guess all good things must come to an end.
Cairo Time (M)
Directed by: Ruba Nadda
Starring: Patricia Clarkson, Alexander Siddig
Rating: Three-and-a-half stars
Screening: now
Reviewed by: Emilia Vranjes