City of Life

Everything from the first shot made me think this would be a movie of substance and it did live up-to my expectations. Being born and lived all my life in Dubai would be I would know a thing or two about the city and every All the characters did a remarkable job filling their characters with naturality, special mention to three of the holding characters,protagonists of the film namely Yassin(Khalfan), Saoud(Faisal) and Sonu(Basu). I think its absolutely great to have films made like this which bring out the essence and feel of a metropolitan city like Dubai. The fact that the city and its lights have been depicted in the tone that it is shows the director knew the shade of how it had to be, had a vision of the final product. Nice slick piece of cinematography all through.

Kudos to Ali n the nice work he has given us! Great stirring film!

I am not used to write on this wall but this time i had to say something.

I see people complaining about things that do not have anything to do with the movie. This movie is a portrait of the "melting pot" in UAE and their different lifestyles. This is a real eye opener. For us to see their culture. I have been there and i did not have the chance to see so many things, which actually makes me sad. But this movie was great in my opinion. I think that it also had a whole new way of shooting movies on.

We also see how the poor man.....see it yourself.

Prior to viewing this film in the cinema in Dubai, I had already heard some good reviews of the film having a potential to enter mainstream cinema. Therefore last night I decided on viewing this film without expecting much.

The storytelling is basically similar to the likes of Babel and Crash, and the film style is "done that, did that". In spite of all the similarities I was impressed by production quality and cinematography. Film touches on lives of three people living in Dubai, and their experiences based on their dreams. Dubai has always been a city of dream rather than a city of life, where people come to fulfill their dream on making more money, buying a bigger better car and home, or simply living a lavish life. This has been well portrayed in the film.

The acting quality is excellent and the costumes, make-ups, and production designs are all well picked. But somehow watching this film in a cinema felt a bit awkward as it had a television production feel rather than cinema house quality. My overall experience just like everyone else was good.

I recommend you watch this film if you have never lived in Dubai, as it does speak out well about Dubai's lifestyle and the dreams people carry here. Dubai is simply a place for dreamers and its best lived short and sweet.

My score: 6 out of 10

Neeil Bhatia

I went to see the movie last night and I was very pleasantly surprised. The movie depicts well the real Dubai. The characters painted feel so real that sometimes during the movie I was reminded of people that I have crossed during my time in Dubai. For people who don't know Dubai, a character or two might seem 'cliches' like the British playboy or the Russian pretty girl who is only interested in men with money... but those that live in Dubai know that these people do actually exist here, probably more than anywhere else.

The writers managed to make all the characters seem true and move the viewer. City of Life portrays a diverse and vibrant city and a message of compassion seem to emanate of it. On top of that it gives an opportunity to see the lives of groups of people that you don't see in reality like Emiratis and gives us a chance to understand each other better.

I really invite you to go watch it.

City of Life didn't live up to its potential, but is still a quaint melodrama and I must say I enjoyed the second half. When I say potential, I mean things like showing us more of the city and surrounds. We get snippets of interesting looking streets and harbour, but much of the movie could well have been anywhere. There is a fight scene in a wreckers yard for example, which may as well have been New York. The snippets and ideas behind what cinematography there was, such as fireworks at a low ebb, or the Asian and his bicycle, were very good. The story is OK but nothing we haven't seen before, nor are the characters anything novel, save perhaps the fellow whom looks like a movie star. He had a relationship with some boys from his slum that was cute, and I wondered the writers didn't develop that a little. City of Life seems to have opted for a play-it-safe course for most of its duration, but I must admit it did all lead to some very satisfactory conclusions. City of Life will please, but probably won't dazzle.