Review of This Is Not a Film (2011) by Hytham E — 18 Apr 2013

This is a movie for fringe film-making fans/aficionados. This is an inward looking movie. It is directed at the interests of film-making insiders. It charts a filmmakers frustration of living under the restrictions imposed by a totalitarian regime.

It starts in a promising manner. The film writer/director wants to act out the screenplay for a movie he was not able to make. But, he quickly abandons that idea. The rest of the movie follows his movements in his apartment and the near outside. He interacts briefly w/ a young man in his apartment building. And, that is the movie.

The director makes a movie about not making a movie. I did not find anything very profound nor insightful about the directors efforts. The germ of the idea was interesting. But, I did not think the execution amounts to very much.

The film was a disappointment.