CAIRO - New Year's Eve is a chaotic, joyous, obvious celebratory time, and it's really the one holiday that most people celebrate regardless of religion. New Year's is a day that is full suspense all on its own, with the countdown, people rushing around to make last minute plans, trying to catch up with things they said they would do last year but never had. New Year's Eve could be a really crazy night if it's embraced as such; many films plots centre around this one night, Egyptian and otherwise. This article is dedicated to that one night, that for this same night, it can be the best or worst night. Or, it can be just another day of the week. This is because New Year's holds within it the promise of the New Year, which has the possibility to be great, horrible, or just ordinary but it's the idea of this promise which is so tantalising. It's the future laid out before you. Many films have taught that, regardless of how we view this day, we always wish that the next year will be better than the one that came before. One of the most acclaimed and underrated Egyptian films about this eventful night is Leila Sakhana (Hot Night, 1996) starring Nour el-Sherif, whose encounter with a prostitute, played by Libliba, changes both their lives. The film's characters are so engaging in that they are so ordinary people trying to rise just over the bottom, clinging to what they know about life and how they should get by. In face of bad things, they might be able to do the "good humanitarian thing" or they might do the opposite. The development of these characters in this one day's span is astonishing, and the performances were certainly deserving of their awards. Even though the film creates this kind of quiet chaos that can hold anyone's attention, it does this much less, and is thus more successful at what it sought to show, than another New Year's film Leylat Baby Doll ( The Baby Doll Night,2008). The latter film stars an ensemble cast that includes Nour el-Sherif, Mahmoud Abdel-Aziz, Mahmoud Hemeda, Ghada Abdel-Raziq, Gamil Ratab, and many others. Despite this varied group of actors, the over-produced film and inexperienced director really didn't know how to control it, and the event of New Year's seemed to be more exciting than the event of the film itself. It's like 200 Cigarettes (1999). Set during New Year's Eve, 1981, this quirky nostalgia piece stars a who's who of the late '90s: Ben and Casey Affleck, Kate Hudson, Christina Ricci, Dave Chappelle, Janeane Garofalo, Martha Plimpton, Paul Rudd, Gaby Hoffmann, and Courtney Love, but much like Leylat Baby Doll, the film just got lost. The types of chaos portrayed in these films varies in thematic content, of course; Leylat Baby Doll is about terrorism and, so, is much darker than the other two which are lighter in tone. However, the cinematic framing devices of New Year's chaos is a common part of each, and is made successful in how it is implemented. These films, regardless of their quality, weren't about joyous occasions, they were all life changing stories, nonetheless, but possibly the greatest New Year's Eve scene of all is in a comedy. This film is one of the best romantic comedies of all time: When Harry Met Sally (1989). After years as friends with (occasional) benefits, Harry (Billy Crystal) finally declares his love for Sally (Meg Ryan). The best quote? ''It's not because I'm lonely, and it's not because it's New Year's Eve,'' Harry says after partycrashing. ''I came here tonight because when you realise you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible. ''Though this film's entire story didn't take place on New Year's Eve, the turning moment of their lives happens on that one night. In Ard Al-Ahlam (Land of Dreams, 1993) starring Faten Hamama and Yahya el- Fakhariny. The film is about a women travelling to America to live with her son first day of the year. She loses her passport and tickets, and while in midst of looking for them by going to every place she was since she last had them, she has an encounter with a magician dressed as Santa Claus in a night club. Because of this encounter, her life's perspective changes as he helps her look for her passport. New Year's Eve is an exciting a day on its own, and is great time for a film to be centred around, although that can be said about other holidays, so this one really holds up more because it really speaks final things and things staring over. It's no wonder that the American director Gary Marshall is making a sequel to his 2010 film "Valentine's Day" titled New Year's Eve starring another ensemble cast which is centred on the eventful days and the characters'love lives. People around this time make resolutions, things they promise to themselves they will do better next year and most resolutions fall through. If Egyptian Cinema made resolutions this year, what should they be? Could they be more serious films, better comedies, incorporating more genres, broader ideas, being fearless to its loyal, but fleeting audiences? I say there is no need for new resolutions, but perhaps a retrospective look back at that art of film-making on how it once was an art form that included people who were truly committed to perfecting their craft, shocking the world with innovation, and being a leader once more.
