Nadine
Labaki wrote, directed and stars in the 2007 Lebanese romantic comedy CARAMEL,
about the love lives of a group of women who either work in or visit a Beirut
beauty salon. Set in then-contemporary Lebanon, you'd think the movie would be
bogged down in politics and bloated with "big picture" meaning, but
possibly the most meaningful and political move it makes is sticking closely to
the women's personal lives.
Of
course, all of their problems are multiplied by their culture and surroundings.
Labaki plays a woman who is having an affair, but that is only complicated by
the fact that she can't even rent a decent hotel room without proof she's
married. Her friend and co-worker (Yasmine Al Masri) is getting married, but
worried that she'll be rejected because she is no longer a virgin and turns to
surgery to rectify the situation. Her other friend and co-worker (Joana
Moukarzel) is a lesbian, and the closest she can get to a love affair is
sharing looks with her crush as she washes her hair.
There's
also Gisele Aouad as a middle-aged wannabe actress and Sihame Haddad as an
elderly tailor who might have one last chance at love if she wasn't burdened
with taking care of her even older sister (Aziza Semaan).
The
movie doesn't really try to aim any higher than dealing with these domestic and
relationship issues, and never really leaves the point of view of these women
and their every day problems. It is telling the way their culture butts into
and complicates things for them, but to its credit the movie never dwells on
that. The movie puts the story and the feelings first, and feels more universal
and true because of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment