Abboud on the Border

Sherif Arafa's 1999 Egyptian comedy follows Abboud, who believes he is exempt from military service. As an only child he knows he will not be called up; when his father marries again and has a son, that changes, and Abboud is sent to the border with his friends. The humour comes from mismatch. None of the three is remotely suited to the army; the narrative makes barracks order and the idea of discipline ridiculous without taking direct aim at the institution. Alaa Wali El Din leads; Ahmed Helmy and Karim Abdel Aziz were then still newly known, and the film is remembered along with the arrival of that generation. The tone is light and the jokes come thick. Who it's for: those who like Egyptian comedy of the nineties. Who it's not for: viewers expecting subtle humour; the film rests largely on physical comedy and repetition.