Caramel
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Adel Karam, Gis?le Aouad, Joanna Moukarzel, Nadine Labaki, Yasmine Al MasriBrand: Lions Gate
Cinematographer: Yves Sehnaoui
Composer: Khaled Mouzanar
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: Arabic (Original Language); English (Subtitled)
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 93 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-06-17
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Lionsgate
Movie Reviews of Caramel
Movie Review: Sukkar Banat.
Summary: 5 Stars
Wow what can I say, I was really impressed by this. Caramel has got to be one of the best and most well-done films that I've ever seen come out of Lebanon. It's was wonderfully shot using the best cinematography in an Arabic film, the colors were very vibrant which shows all the great sights of Beirut. Caramel a.k.a. Sukkar Banat is the directorial debut of the stunningly beautiful actress Nadine Labaki who also co-wrote the script with Rodney El Haddad and Jihad Hojeily, the film revolves around the lives of five women working in and around a beauty salon in Beirut. Layale played by Nadine is caught up in an affair with a married man and obsessed with his unwitting wife, wanting to know what it is that always draws him back home.
And Nisrine (Yasmine Elmasri) is due to be married, but nervous about the potential consequences of her past indiscretions and also being Muslim causes alot more problems if her parents find out. Tomboyish Rima (Joanna Moukarzel), whose socially dangerous lesbian romance with a customer is portrayed entirely in metaphor - here are some of the great images and visuals of hairdressing you'll ever see. Jamale (Gisele Aouad) who is struggling to make a career as an actress and to convince everyone (including herself) that she's still young but is quite old and has two kids and one of them is a teenager, still has a few issues to deal with. And Rose, an aging seamstress whose devotion to her senile old sister has left her life pass her by and a chance to be with someone who she seems to be in love with.
Each character was interesting and unique in their own way, some Western viewers might not get some of the humor unless you know some Arabic culture but I definitely think that this film would appeal to a large audience, it doesn't matter where you come from cause it's definitely a very enjoyable film and it has universal themes of love, struggle and the mixing of modern society with older tradition and values and the acting was fantastic from all of the cast, some of whom weren't even professional actors. I really liked the characters especially Jamale who provided most of the humor as the aging wanna be actress. The film also reminded me of a time when I was a kid growing up in Jordan, Lebanon is kind of similar cause it has a large Christian population so you would see every passing store with pictures of the virgin Mary (That was before me and my family moved to Kuwait), it has to do with the Catholic imagery in the film, not everyone we follow in turn follows the same religion.
This film really brought back alot of memories from my youth, with the old apartment buildings and narrow streets which was kind of neat you can also see an obvious mixture of both cultures and religions in Lebanon, this film however stays away from most of the politics of the region and just focuses on the story. Anyway I'm not really a big fan of Romantic comedies or art house films and yet I must say I was quite impressed by this brilliant film, and it seemed to have more depth and meaning than your average romantic drama and comedy flick. I highly recommend this and two thumbs up.
Summary of Caramel
A Beirut beauty salon becomes a treasured meeting place for several generations of women, from various walks of life, to talk, seek advice and confide in one another.Taking its title from the sweet substance that doubles as a depilatory, this honey-hued diversion makes few claims towards originality. Other female-oriented films have centered around salons, but the Lebanese locale of Nadine Labaki's debut distinguishes Caramel from the likes of Venus Beauty Institute (with Audrey Tautou) and Beauty Shop (with Queen Latifah). In Labaki's generous take on the subgenre, she plays Layale, a stunning stylist in love with a family man. Little does she realize bashful beat cop Youssef (Adel Karam), who issues Layale a stream of traffic citations, feels the same way about her. Parlor regulars include Muslim bride-to-be Nisrine (Yasmine Elmasri), ambiguous assistant Rima (Joanna Moukarzel), age-obsessed actress Jamale (Gis?le Aouad), and lonely seamstress Rose (Sihame Haddad). The inclusion of neighbors Youssef and Rose, who spends most of her time caring for a delusional sister, confirms Caramel's true subject as the city of Beirut. Aside from their reduced circumstances--Layale lives at home and shares a room with her brother--the central quartet echoes the tart-tongued professionals of Sex and the City (which makes Jamale the group's Samantha). Before the bittersweet conclusion, each woman experiences a revelation of sorts. For Layale, it entails getting to know both her sympathetic rival and her secret admirer. Compared to most Western comedy-dramas, Caramel is as modest as the culture it depicts--Rima's attraction to women, for instance, is merely suggested--but Labaki's compassion for her characters redeems the sometimes-familiar situations. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
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