El Keif

Ali Abdel-Khalek's 1985 Egyptian film follows Gamal, who sings at weddings, and his brother Salah, a chemist. To get his brother off drugs Salah prepares a mixture from harmless substances, but when a dealer takes to the formula things change. The idea is good intention turning around. What Salah began in order to help his brother becomes a profitable production in short order; the narrative shows that transition not as a moment but as a step-by-step slide. Mahmoud Abdel Aziz and Yehia El Fakharany lead. The tone sits between comedy and crime film and the final section hardens. It became one of the most cited productions about the drug economy in eighties Egypt. Who it's for: those who like eighties Egyptian cinema. Who it's not for: viewers troubled by drug use shown in a light register; the film makes it comic material in its first half.