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Yehia, one of the protagonists, finds a document sealed in a bottle floating in the sea. No one can decipher it. It seems to be written in some ancient script. Yehia's relentless search for meaning leads him nowhere. His friend Nora points out to him that searching for meaning can sometimes be futile. One cannot always find meaning in the ongoing process of change.
In this highly allegorical depiction of change imposed on countries such as Egypt to modernise, there is an ongoing search for answers to many philosophical questions. The story focuses on the Mediterranean city of Alexandria — the film has several protagonists representing some aspect of life in the city. The enigmatic Nora embodies the mysterious past. Abeel in the role of the helpless worker personifies the collective memory of the nation. He refuses to go through brain surgery to save his life because it would destroy his memory. He wonders that if he forgets the past will he still be the same person? Can a country that has erased its history remain the same?
Yehia, a remnant of the era of innocence, is unable to stop the process of change anymore than he can control his own speech impediment. Carla and her mother stand for the minorities that are moving out. Haji Hashem, the owner of a building and adamant on buying out Yehia, is the avatar of capitalism bent on eradicating the past.
To fully enjoy the film you have to understand what each character or situation represents. Else you will agree with a viewer who remarked that the film had nothing to do with Alexandria.
Message from the Sea opens with the death of Yehia's mother and him moving from Cairo to his ancestral apartment in Alexandria where he had spent his childhood. He finds the once thriving multi-cultural and multi-racial society, where people of different faiths and ethnic backgrounds lived together in harmony, being transformed into a city of mono-culture where minorities were moving out and the richness of the past was being destroyed.
Yehia's Muslim capitalist landlord is set on demolishing the apartment complex to make room for a shopping mall. In his many encounters with the landlord, Yehia tries to hold on to his apartment. He does not want change to destroy the past completely. He puts up a fight but a new world is emerging around him. He is unable to stop his childhood Italian friend (Carla) and her mother (Francesca) from moving back to Italy.
Daoud Abdel Sayed started his film-making career with Egyptian director Youssef Chahine. An outstanding film-maker himself, Sayed is a proponent of the New Realism in Egyptian cinema. He has made several documentaries and feature films which have won him international awards. The Land of Fear, The Vagabonds, The Search for Sayed Marzouk, Kit Kat, Land of Dream, and The Stolen Joy are the best known. Message from the Sea has been acclaimed as one of his best films yet. It is beautiful, sensitive, romantic and mysterious. Sayed has crafted a film that is simple but deep at the same time.
Capitalism and social disintegration may have transformed Alexandria from a cosmopolitan city into a mono-cultural one, but it retains its physical charm. As the camera moves, capturing the thick clouds, the roaring sea, vibrant streets, congested antique shops and the buzzing fish market, Alexandria comes alive in the rain and sunshine.
