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A New Day in Old Sana’a Movie Review

A New Day in Old Sana’a is a 2005 Yemeni romantic drama film directed by Bader Ben Hirsi. It’s a very well shot and fascinating, but quite problematic and cheap-sounding movie.

The film is shown through the eyes of Federico, a photographer from Italy. Tariq is scheduled to marry Bilquis, the daughter of a rich judge. However, while out in the city one night, he catches sight of a woman he believes to be Bilquis, and falls in love with her. The woman turns out to be an artist named Ines, and Tariq ends up having to choose between the two.

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First and foremost, the plot is troublesome. While it does shed a light on the never-before seen region in the world, it is very typical in its love triangle, though it does depict the horrible role of women in the Arab societies deftly. Most of the story is serviceable without ever being particularly memorable and its lightweight tone is excessive for better and for worse.

Being the first ever movie shot and made in the country of Yemen, A New Day in Old Sana’a clearly is highly important in terms of historicity and representation. And the fact that it portrays this very colorful and once even fairy-tale like city in its interesting buildings and narrow medieval streets was commendable.

The movie is at its best when giving the audiences a glimpse at this city and its many interesting streets and sights. One could wish that the director made a documentary instead of a narrative feature, and it is obvious that this latter choice was wrong in this particular instance. The movie would have been much more potent in the former format.

But this way, it ended up being rather uninteresting, bland and even silly. Why is it silly? Well, the choice from the director to narrate the movie was downright horrendous. He narrates the most obvious plot points and feelings of the characters, making the movie feel cheap and childish. There was no need for it. Bader Ben Hirsi is a British filmmaker of Yemeni origin, which was essential for this film’s respect, but still his direction reeks of narcissism. The movie would have been much better without his involvement at the end of the day.

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A New Day in Old Sana’a is an important film as it portrays a never-before seen region of the world. Its glimpse at the city of Sana’a in all of its intrigue was its finest aspect. However, the plot is only serviceable and the director’s insistence to narrate the most obvious plot points and emotions was downright ridiculous and it hurt what would have otherwise been a much more impactful feature.

My Rating – 3