I find it refreshing watching films almost entirely populated by women, I am a great fan of Pedro Almodóvar's All About my Mother in particular. What we get from Nadine Labaki's Caramel though, is rather more Almodóvar-lite.The film focuses on five women, connected by a beauty parlour, and tells their stories of love, duty and the perils of the aging process. So far, so Steel Magnolias, which isn’t an entirely unfair comparison as, though Caramel is doubtless less sentimental than the eighties blubfest, their salons appear to offer some of the same hairstyles.

The plots, themes and characters are well worn to the point of being cliché, and it’s very easy to predict what’s going to happen next. It doesn’t have the visual invention or originality of something like an Almodóvar film. In fact, if Caramel wasn’t subtitled and coming off the festival circuit, I can well imagine it being billed as a ‘chick-flick’.

These criticisms though are to take the film out of context, which is where its value really lies. The difference between Caramel and your run of the mill film about a group of female friends setting the world to rights, is that this beauty parlour isn’t located in some picturesque Louisiana backwater, it’s in Beirut. Writer, director and star Labaki dedicates the film to 'her Beirut', and it certainly presents a view of the Lebanese capital contrary to popular image. What’s also fascinating is how cultural differences affect classic romantic plot strands, particularly in the case of Layale (played by Labaki) and her unfulfilling affair with a married man. The romance itself plays out exactly as you’d expect, but it’s the little touches, like the thirty something Layale sharing a bedroom with her teenage brother or the fact she is unable to book a double hotel room without proving it’s for a married couple, that provide the real interest.

Performances are mixed in the mainly female cast of newcomers. The pick of the bunch come from Sihame Haddad who plays Rose, the dressmaker across the road from the salon, and Aziza Semaan as Rose’s elderly sister Lili who is suffering from dementia. Their situation, beautifully performed, creates moments of warmth, humour and genuine pathos. Something the younger women’s exploits struggle to achieve.

It’s difficult to know who to recommend this film to. It’s probably a little too lightweight for fans of foreign, art house cinema; but a little too challenging for fans of lightweight romantic dramas (presuming the subtitles didn’t put them off in the first place). Even so, it’s enjoyable for the most part and presents an interesting view of a modern Lebanon from a female perspective, which is probably achievement enough.

Comment (0)

Send to friend

Print

Add to Facebook