CARAMEL (PG) * *
DIRECTED BY: NADINE LABAKI
STARRING: NADINE LABAKI, YASMINE ELMASRI, JOANNA MOUKARELPLAYING out like a Lebanese, female oriented version of Ice Cube comedy Barbershop (only with less emphasis on gags and mo
re on metaphor heavy drama about menopause and infidelity), Caramel revolves around the lives of several women who frequent a beauty salon in Beirut.
That setting certainly gives first time actor writer director Nadine Labaki's film a unique perspective, offering up some cultural insights into the plight of women in a hypocritical patriarchal society that expects them to protect their virtue at all costs (one of several interlinked plot strands involves a woman debating whether to have hymen stitching surgery to avoid having to admit to her husband that she's no longer a virgin).
In all other respects, however, this is an unexceptional, pedestrian film, full of pretty visuals (Labaki's background is in commercials and music videos), stock characters and meandering stories that have little urgency.
The title refers not to the sweet we all eat but to its other use as a leg waxing material, which while clearly being intended as a metaphor for the pain women endure for in the pursuit of temporary beauty, also serves as a good metaphor for the experience of watching the film.
The full article contains 225 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
