An individual film that deserves credit for its rich cinematography, gentle characterization, hints of an Almodovar influence, and a challenging message. It's not bad at all.
"They talk about love, when they talk about you. Love if you wish, but love as they do."
As its title suggests, Caramel is a sweet, delightful affair, hiding any bitter undertones under a sprightly, glossy exterior. Fresh from commercials and music videos, novice director-co-writer (and star) Nadine Labaki gathers five women around a Beirut beauty salon to address a range of issues facing Lebanese women - from extramarital affairs to religious dictates. Low on calories and not especially original but always amusing and charming, Caramel was destined to great success at home, though France may be its only major Western market, having premiered at Cannes in 2007 during the Directors fortnight
From the first moments of Caramel, you know what you're in for. There's a pop-Arab soundtrack that bridges traditional and contemporary music, a whimsical montage of different women working their way through the streets of Beirut, and a serio-comic encounter between the beautiful heroine and the handsome fellow who's clearly smitten with her (a fact she hasn't yet noticed). Caramel is an ode to female bonding - it's a beauty-shop film, after all - a celebration of female sensuality and sensitivity and a series of interlocking love stories, that positively revels in the conventions of those genres. It's a reassuring and delicious film, but in no sense an adventurous one.
Still, there's no doubt that Labaki deserves extra credit for making a film in an Arab nation that casually depicts friendship between Muslims and Christians, never mentions violence or political strife, and in its own gentle fashion sidles up against social issues that remain sensitive in that part of the world. Layale (played by the ravishing Labaki herself, a Penélope Cruz-style stunner) is sleeping with a married man, while one of the employees at her beauty salon, Rima (Joanna Moukarzel), is confronting her own attraction to women. All this is presented Arab cinema-style, with no touching between unmarried people. All we see of Layale's illicit liaisons is a parked car with two people inside, while Rima's big lesbian encounter involves washing a naive brunette's hair.
Layale, a devout Christian who still lives with her parents, is so obsessed with her adulterous lover that she barely pays attention to Youssef (Adel Karam), the handsome, fully available and age-appropriate young policeman who's always hanging around the salon giving her parking tickets. Her best friend, Nisrine (Yasmine al-Masri), is a good Muslim girl who's engaged to be married - and needs to convince her future husband that she's still, you know, pure. (When it's simply not so.) Then there's Jamale (Gisèle Aouad), the aging soap actress trying to hold back the hands of time, and Rose (Siham Haddad), a still-beautiful modiste in her 60s responsible for caring for her ill sister, who may get one last chance at romance.
All these characters' destinies unfold without the slightest hint of surprise. But Yves Sehnaoui's cinematography is always delectable; despite its issues, Beirut is a lovely Mediterranean city and a natural film location. Labaki's cast (most of them non-professional actors) handle the plot's broad twists and turns with brio. The young director herself is both a natural comedienne and a beauty; when Layale ends up (improbably enough) caramel-waxing the nether regions of Christine (Fadia Stella), her lover's high-spirited and charming wife, she approaches the task with a sleepy-eyed slow burn that's equal parts sadism and self-pity. Caramel didn't end up getting the foreign-language Oscar nomination Lebanon wanted so much, and probably wasn't distinctive enough to merit one. But it's a warm, irresistible treat.
Caramel has been described frequently as "a Lebanese version of Steel Magnolias" and, while I usually hate those comparisons, it really is. It's a delightful valentine to women of a particular time and place. And, like Pedro Almodóvar's work, it never trivializes feminine anxieties. At first glance, Caramel is a chick flick, plain and simple. Labaki is gorgeous and young, and there is enough romanticism in the plot to satisfy the Cinderella side. On the other hand, Nisrine is about to undergo an operation that will fool her fiancé into thinking he's her first lover, and Jamale, the would-be actress, keeps pigeon blood in her purse so that she can stain the clothes she wears to auditions. Labaki is never uncomfortable showing both the best and worst of feminine nature and, more importantly, she doesn't portray her male characters as pricks - a mistake many "feminists" often commit.
Labaki's directorial style continually underplays the passion she's packed into the screenplay, so that Caramel never feels formulaic. For instance, when Nisrine's mother explains married life to her on the eve of her wedding, Labaki keeps the camera in medium shot. It's the choice of a filmmaker who trusts her actors, and who understands that the standard editing - cuts to close-ups of Nisrine and her mother - would distract the viewer from the scene's inherent universality. Labaki's production design emphasizes the duality of feminine spaces, of women's bedrooms and beauty salons, which offer confinement and freedom - and the possibility of metamorphosis. When Layale's male admirer enters the salon, he must raise his voice to be heard. Once inside, he is welcomed as a guest: another customer relinquishes her chair for him. In that chair, however, he is transformed by the image the women have of him.
Labaki's confidence is what makes Caramel such an unusual debut film. Whether she's directing a scene right out of screwball comedy - where she cuts between two telephone conversations, one real and one imagined - or a sequence that does not work so well, where Nisrine, Layale and Jamale are in a cab, Labaki allows events to unfold in what feels like real time. In the cab, the conversation is awkward and the scene is lengthy, but the writer-director plays it out nevertheless, convincing us of its authenticity. During the romantic telephone sequence, the camera spends a lot of time on Labaki's dazzling face, and if at first the scene appears showy, in the end it has a striking immediacy.
Caramel wrapped shooting a week before the war of 2006 erupted in Lebanon. It seems bitterly ironic that a filmmaker so insistent on the possibility of a Lebanese film that avoided direct discussion of the wars of the '80s and '90s would then be faced with the reality of yet another conflict. In an interview, Labaki expressed her ambivalence about her own film during those first few months of the war, when she was editing in Paris, wondering if it was possible to escape war, and even feeling some guilt about portraying a topic that seemed outside of it. Eventually, she came to understand Caramel as "another way of surviving the war, of getting over it, of winning it and of getting revenge. It marks my revolt and my commitment." As with the work of all artists working in difficult conditions, this film is a form of resistance, not just surviving but also living, creating, and dreaming.
It takes patience, and does get boring at times, but this movie is very well-acted and has interesting characters. Recommended for fans of foreign films and chick flicks.
Telling the story of five Lebanese women, all connected to a Beirut beauty salon, this is a simply charming film. The plot, rather reminiscent of a more reserved LOVE ACTUALLY, is very personal and real. It might be easy to dismiss this as simply a chick flick in Arabic, but it's much more than that. Like its title, which actually refers to the sugary compound Lebanese women use to remove hair rather than the candy, this is a film that is both sweet and capable of packing a sting. The cast, composed of typically gorgeous Lebanese women, is excellent and all the characters ring true. If the film has any flaws, it simply comes from the fact that it's over too soon without fully wrapping up all the loose ends.
This was a very refreshing art house film. Good insight to the life of Lebanese women, and realistic. So different from Hollywood movies. Shows you dont need love scenes etc to make a movie. And at the end everything comes together for a while until the next thing to overcome. The women where beautiful and good acting.
Not many movies make me want to cry. It's left me with a good feeling. This movie is beautiful. Fall in love with the love stories and their characters. Aziza Semaan's performance is the best of 2008! As is Nadine Labaki's directing! I loved this caramel!
Caramel is the story of five Lebanese women coming to terms with their lives, while sharing a unique bond of friendship, probably portrayed by a tangible setting, the beauty salon, helping them cope with the harsh realities of existence.
First there's Layale who realizes her relationship with a married man is leading her nowhere. Then there's Nisrine who is to marry a Muslim man yet faces a terrible obstacle. As for Rima, she is a lesbian. Then Jamale who fears old age and seems to encounter but failures in her professional life. Lastly there's the very endearing Rose who must chose between love or her senile mother Lili.
Director Nadine Labaki (who also plays Layale) beautifully portrays the lives of these women without making it too melodramatic, occasionally adding dashes of humour to soften the film.
First of all, for a film whose title is "Caramel", there is not enough caramel. Of course everyone can remember the film Chocolat (with Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp) which featured the life of a rebellious woman interwoven with the art of making chocolate. And basically, the movie just oozed with chocolate and the likes. But in Caramel, caramel itself is allotted only a few scenes, namely the opening scene where the process of making caramel is introduced to us - caramel in this movie being most of all used as an epilation method rather than for edible reasons. But then I thought, hmmm, the caramel in itself is the reason why these women are together. So Caramel is an appropriate title; well, at least better than Four Lebanese Women or Beauty Salon, haha!
The characters aren't as deep as one would think. I was expecting more depth and emotionally arousing situations. And as bizarre as it may sound, my favourite character wasn't even one of the main women; it was Lili, the mentally-challenged old lady.
Also, I wouldn't go so far as saying this is beautifully shot because it isn't. The colours are too dark for such a film. And no, I'm pretty sure it wasn't done to create a certain style. Common sense, people! When you call your film Caramel, I bet you'll try and make the scenes and transitions look as smooth as possible, far from angular shots that make the scenes look strict and devoid of softness. Sheesh!
Overall, a nice directorial debut from Nadine Labaki, worth a watch especially by fans of the genre. I'll definitely be awaiting her next film!
Not a bad movie. Different to many of the other movies I manly see. It kinda reminded me of Chocolat. The two old ladies made me laugh and whenever Yasmine Elmasri was on screen I payed close attention since she's a beauty.
Caramel reminded me of Almodóvar in the sense that it is a movie devoted to women and contained similar themes and humour to some of his movies.
It centres around five Lebanese women; Three who work in a beauty salon where most of the movie takes place, one a regular client and one a tailor who works across the street. They are all good friends and each has a problem in their life...
The title 'Caramel' is taken from a form of waxing that is used in the salon, which looks quite painful!
This is a wonderfully touching movie with bursts of hilarity and sadness.
Agradable y bien intencionada película de solidaridad femenina en un Beirut de aire ligero, pero se queda muy en la superficie tanto en el desarrollo de sus subtramas como en la profundización de sus personajes... unos más que otros. / Pleasant and well-intentioned film of female solidarity in a light-breezed Beirut, but stays very superficial in the development of its subplots and characters... some more than others.
Emotional and original, Caramel have a distinguish style. The story's of 5 womens from Beirut are shown with a naturalist style. The poetry extract from Caramel lead us to the sense of love and humans relationship. The characters are in front of a truth, which is up to them to view if they will accept it or not. It's a personal movie, where, I prefer to say because of the realism, the characters are persons, not actors.
Las historias mínimas de cinco mujeres de diversas edades.. contadas bellamente. Siempre es interesante ver como es la vida en otras culturas diferentes a la propias y descubrir lo mucho que se tiene en común. Muy recomendable.
It is always interesting to see how people from lesser known cultures and counties live. And that is exactly what we get to explore in Caramel. Five women's (love) life exposed with their ups and downs, advantages and disadvantages and, essentially, proving that all the different types of love affairs we are used to in the West goes pretty much for everyone all over the world, though some may face a variety of difficulties to be overcome. A lovely and entertaining, even educational movie in its own right.
if you read the synopsis it doesn't sound amazing...yet the film is very good and tells a story that is all to common in the world today.well acted,and a story that sounds dull and yet will entertain you!!!!
I liked this film very much. There are a lot of reason but I can't explain every one... The sarcasm, all the history, the direction... Everything in this film is at the right place. Sometimes slow.
This film paints a beautiful picture of life for women in Lebanon. The movie is devoid of bombs, terrorists, military and any of the usual suspects in movies that take place in countries such as Lebanon.
Instead, the film explores the trials and tribulations of five women who are connected by the work they share in a beauty salon. The bond they've created is a net of trust they can be assured of when it comes to confiding in one another.
Whether it be troubles with men; troubles with customers; troubles with dealing with aging; or anything else--these women are strong characters that exude a feminist aura that is all-but absent from the portrait the American media is willing to present us with.
This movie is a small, foreign-language gem that deals with women; is directed by a woman; but is no way a chick flick. It showcases the way of life in a country that I knew nothing about except for what I see in the news--and it's beautiful to see life being lived to the fullest by the inhabitants of a region with such a bad reputation.
Good movie about 5 girls living in the poor region of Beirut.
The caracters are interesting to discover for each has a different background and a different problem, and they're all sharing the same beauty salon.
A lot better than all the lebanese crap that usually make it to the theater.
Nadine Labaki: perhaps not a familiar name, not yet. You are certain to hear more of her, well beyond this report about her first film, "Caramel." The young Lebanese beauty is not only the star of this heartwarming and unusual movie, but also its director and co-writer.
Unusual? It sure is, a contemporary film taking place in Beirut without any reference to the wars tearing the city apart for decades now. (There is a parallel here with another excellent film making its U.S. appearance, "The Band's Visit," of an Egyptian-Israeli encounter set deliberately outside the political context.) Unusual? Amazingly so when you realize, having witnessed an extraordinary ensemble performance, that all but two of the cast members have no acting experience.It's all great acting by non-actors, and you wouldn't know it without a press release.
"Sex in the City" with brains, realism, and without affectation, "Caramel" tells the story of five women in a Beirut beauty salon, their lives and dreams. The tone is simple, intimate, the characters are different from each other, but all likable and real. "Caramel" is a movie to enjoy; beyond its vitality and good humor, it offers the viewer the acquaintance of everyday, believable people you can care about.
The title refers to the pliant caramelized sugar used for hair removal, material that can be used for good (removing hair) or ill (inflicting pain on a lover's wife, who ends up in the wrong salon). It is something "sweet and salt, sugary and sour, of the delicious sugar that can burn and hurt you," Labaki has said.
The director - whose theme and work are reminiscent of Pedro Almodovar's early films - is Layale, the owner of the salon, a woman in her early 30s, who "should be married" by now, but instead, she carries on a passionate (for her) affair with a married policeman. Layale is Christian, her best friend working in the salon, Nisrine, is a Moslem woman of 28, about to get married, but she is facing a daunting obstacle. The role is played memorably by one of the film's many amateur actors, Yasmine Al Masri.
Also in the salon, Rima, a 24-year-old tomboy (played by Joanna Moukarzel, in real life "business manager with an electrical appliance company"!), who is quietly struggling with her growing interest in women. It is one of the many glories of "Caramel" how her friends literally look the other way when Rima - very much in love - cuts the hair of a beautiful stranger (Siham Fatmeh Safa, who should be a model and an actress, but is neither).
Among the many fascinating characters: Jamale, a customer who virtually lives in the salon, a woman in denial of and battling her age; Lili, a crazy aunt, who collects parking tickets from windshields; and the men in the cast - relegated to supporting roles, but not belittled or presented in a hostile manner. It's not so much a "women's picture" as a film for and about people.
With splendid cinematography by Yves Sehnaoui, and appealing music by Khaled Mouzanar, "Caramel" completed production work in 2006, one week before the most recent bombing of Beirut began.
Layal (Nadine Labaki) works in a beauty salon in Beirut along with 2 other women. Each one has a problem: Layal has a relationship with a married man, Nisrine (Yasmine Al Masri) who is no more a virgin, will soon be married, Rima (Joanna Moukarzel) is attracted to girls. Jamale (Gisèle Aouad), the regular and close customer, is worried about getting old. Rose (Sihame Haddad), a tailor with a shop next to the salon, is an old lady who devoted her life to taking care of her older sister Lili (Aziza Semaan), has found her first love.
a wonderful view on lebanese women written by a woman as well, who's also acting in her own movie. nadine labaki is really talented, i hope to see more films of her in the future. if you like movies that will make you feel light and warm after watching it, this one is for you. i was pleased!
MCT:September 19, 2008
MCT:August 30, 2008
MCT:August 25, 2008
MCT:August 10, 2008
MCT:July 20, 2008
MCT:May 26, 2008
MCT:January 29, 2008
