Film Review: Caramel
7.8/10
I'm back! Yep, this blog does films now. This will be the first informally written entry in a series of entries revolving around media picked by my wonderful girlfriend, Brooke (whose reviews I will maybe link at the end of each of mine.)
Caramel is a Lebanese romantic comedy, directed and starred in by Lebanese director-actress Nadine Labaki (duh, her nationality/profession seems obvious). The film centers around five women and their various romantic/life troubles, using a beauty salon as the central hub for their interactions. These five women each embody an aspect of life as a woman, from aging to chastity. Their stories are each given varying degrees of importance throughout the film, which runs a bit short considering all that it attempts to tackle.
The most immediately apparent (and applaudable) aspect of the film is the setting. Caramel takes place in a Beirut that is quite different than the one typically portrayed in film. The film largely trades the typical, war-ravaged depiction of middle eastern cities for an idyllic, and happy one. There is no mention of politics or anything of the sort, and the city is shown to be modern and peaceful (albeit a bit hot). The only scene with any sort of violent tension is the one in which Nisrine and Bassam are approached by a heavily armed soldier, but even that turns into one of the film's most humorous moments (and the following scene, where Bassam is reprimanded by the police and his family is absolutely hilarious). The move away from the Western ideal that any city not primarily inhabited by white people is an unhappy, run down disaster is a refreshing and charming touch, and lets the film focus more on the development of its characters rather than their struggles with their surroundings.
In terms of the film's technical aspects, the range from passable to fantastic, with none of them being in any way bad or unpleasant. While much of the film's charm comes from its amateurism, occasionally the easy nature of the movie can be chalked up more to a lack of polish than to willful informality. On the passable side, we have the acting and the camera work. Director Nadine Labaki has said that she intentionally chose non professional actors for the film, and at times it shows. Occasionally the melodrama can get a bit high, and professional actors could have helped to pull off some of the theatrics, but for the most part the acting does the job good enough, especially during the films more casual moments. It is only during the difficult scenes that the inexperience of some of the acting shows flaws. The camera work also suffers in this way, as many of the shots feel crude or faux-artsy. Combined with the sometimes less than stellar acting, some of the scenes come off as extremely obvious (like the odd scenes meant to depict sexual tension between Rima and her customer) in their intention, so much so that they feel like part of a bad commercial. However, many other parts of the film pick up the slack and then some. The soundtrack is superb, and fits the film like a glove. Many of the songs are used perfectly throughout, either to underscore emotion or just to transition the film from one scene to the next. No matter the use, every bit of sound fits well, at least to my ears. Another point of high praise is the script. The dialogue is sharp and funny, as well as emotional when it needs to be. I don't speak a word of Lebanese (although it does at times seem like an amalgamation of French and Spanish), but the dubs seem to flow well enough that I assume most of the translations are close to literal.
Developmentally, the film is a bit of a mixed bag, with mostly positives. All of the characters are interesting and have interesting plot lines. There was really no point in which I was disappointed to see the film switching to one particular woman; all five were quite fascinating. My problem, in fact, is the opposite of that. I feel that many of the plot lines were left undeveloped or untapped of potential. The main plot (Layale's pursuit of a married man) was left largely unfinished at the end of the story but was filled with incredible moments, especially those that put Layale in the same room as her man's wife. Also left disappointingly was Jamale's struggle with aging. The only plots that were somewhat satisfyingly resolved were Rima's (and even her plot was extremely underutilized) and Rose's. Rose's plot line ends well, although in quite a bittersweet fashion. I was a huge fan of her shy romance with the American man, and was disappointed to see how it ended (even though I knew she made the right choice in choosing to care for Lili). Despite these gripes, most (I'd say about 78% *wink*) of the stories told are told exceptionally and the characters are all quite likeable. I'd also like to make a quick sidenote about how horribly signposted Rima's homosexuality is in the film. The short hair, masculine clothing, the ever present nerd-chique headphones, come on. The audience is a little more perceptive than that.
The themes of the film, all centering around everyday life as a woman, are also about 78% superb and 22% underdeveloped. My main gripe with the films themes is how scatterbrained they can feel at times. One scene will attempt to tackle homosexuality, one will attempt mental illness, one will attack aging, one will attack homosexuality, but none of them feel like the offer a full statement on the issue. I obviously understand that femininity is extremely complicated and intersectional, but at the same time, when you only have a 96 minute run time, conciseness is of the essence. A little more focus on fewer issues would have strengthened the film's morals, although the ambition is admirable.
All in all, there is a lot to like about Caramel, but it is far from a perfect movie. It suffers at times from its amateur background and ambition, but is simultaneously charming and lighthearted because of those same characteristics. I would certainly recommend this movie to anybody with an interest in foreign films, or at the least a person with an open mind who enjoys a good rom com. The film's depiction of Beirut as a normal place where people have every day problems is as admirable as it is entertaining, and the film certainly has a character for every member of its audience to relate with. All in all it is more than worth its short run time, and being on Neflix there is little reason to not see this movie aside from a complete disinterest in its subject matter.
The most immediately apparent (and applaudable) aspect of the film is the setting. Caramel takes place in a Beirut that is quite different than the one typically portrayed in film. The film largely trades the typical, war-ravaged depiction of middle eastern cities for an idyllic, and happy one. There is no mention of politics or anything of the sort, and the city is shown to be modern and peaceful (albeit a bit hot). The only scene with any sort of violent tension is the one in which Nisrine and Bassam are approached by a heavily armed soldier, but even that turns into one of the film's most humorous moments (and the following scene, where Bassam is reprimanded by the police and his family is absolutely hilarious). The move away from the Western ideal that any city not primarily inhabited by white people is an unhappy, run down disaster is a refreshing and charming touch, and lets the film focus more on the development of its characters rather than their struggles with their surroundings.
In terms of the film's technical aspects, the range from passable to fantastic, with none of them being in any way bad or unpleasant. While much of the film's charm comes from its amateurism, occasionally the easy nature of the movie can be chalked up more to a lack of polish than to willful informality. On the passable side, we have the acting and the camera work. Director Nadine Labaki has said that she intentionally chose non professional actors for the film, and at times it shows. Occasionally the melodrama can get a bit high, and professional actors could have helped to pull off some of the theatrics, but for the most part the acting does the job good enough, especially during the films more casual moments. It is only during the difficult scenes that the inexperience of some of the acting shows flaws. The camera work also suffers in this way, as many of the shots feel crude or faux-artsy. Combined with the sometimes less than stellar acting, some of the scenes come off as extremely obvious (like the odd scenes meant to depict sexual tension between Rima and her customer) in their intention, so much so that they feel like part of a bad commercial. However, many other parts of the film pick up the slack and then some. The soundtrack is superb, and fits the film like a glove. Many of the songs are used perfectly throughout, either to underscore emotion or just to transition the film from one scene to the next. No matter the use, every bit of sound fits well, at least to my ears. Another point of high praise is the script. The dialogue is sharp and funny, as well as emotional when it needs to be. I don't speak a word of Lebanese (although it does at times seem like an amalgamation of French and Spanish), but the dubs seem to flow well enough that I assume most of the translations are close to literal.
Developmentally, the film is a bit of a mixed bag, with mostly positives. All of the characters are interesting and have interesting plot lines. There was really no point in which I was disappointed to see the film switching to one particular woman; all five were quite fascinating. My problem, in fact, is the opposite of that. I feel that many of the plot lines were left undeveloped or untapped of potential. The main plot (Layale's pursuit of a married man) was left largely unfinished at the end of the story but was filled with incredible moments, especially those that put Layale in the same room as her man's wife. Also left disappointingly was Jamale's struggle with aging. The only plots that were somewhat satisfyingly resolved were Rima's (and even her plot was extremely underutilized) and Rose's. Rose's plot line ends well, although in quite a bittersweet fashion. I was a huge fan of her shy romance with the American man, and was disappointed to see how it ended (even though I knew she made the right choice in choosing to care for Lili). Despite these gripes, most (I'd say about 78% *wink*) of the stories told are told exceptionally and the characters are all quite likeable. I'd also like to make a quick sidenote about how horribly signposted Rima's homosexuality is in the film. The short hair, masculine clothing, the ever present nerd-chique headphones, come on. The audience is a little more perceptive than that.
The themes of the film, all centering around everyday life as a woman, are also about 78% superb and 22% underdeveloped. My main gripe with the films themes is how scatterbrained they can feel at times. One scene will attempt to tackle homosexuality, one will attempt mental illness, one will attack aging, one will attack homosexuality, but none of them feel like the offer a full statement on the issue. I obviously understand that femininity is extremely complicated and intersectional, but at the same time, when you only have a 96 minute run time, conciseness is of the essence. A little more focus on fewer issues would have strengthened the film's morals, although the ambition is admirable.
All in all, there is a lot to like about Caramel, but it is far from a perfect movie. It suffers at times from its amateur background and ambition, but is simultaneously charming and lighthearted because of those same characteristics. I would certainly recommend this movie to anybody with an interest in foreign films, or at the least a person with an open mind who enjoys a good rom com. The film's depiction of Beirut as a normal place where people have every day problems is as admirable as it is entertaining, and the film certainly has a character for every member of its audience to relate with. All in all it is more than worth its short run time, and being on Neflix there is little reason to not see this movie aside from a complete disinterest in its subject matter.
