Genre: Foreign-Subtitled (Lebanese)
Australian Release Date: 18th September, 2008
Rating: M
Length: 96 mins
Starring: Nadine Labaki, Yasmine Al Masri, Joanna Moukarzel & Gisèle Aouad
Directed By: Nadine Labaki
Soundtrack: Khaled Mouzanar
Upon hearing of this film from a relative of a relative, I was intrigued to find out what this Cannes Film Festival entry had to offer. What I found was a surprisingly raw and refreshingly honest look at the lives of five Lebanese women, and the ways in which they deal with universal issues such as forbidden love, cultural traditions, repressed sexuality, and the role of women in society. Within these universal issues are some uniquely Lebanese character traits, which I found extremely funny as well as enabling me to gain a better understanding of my own Lebanese roots.
I saw a bit of myself in each of the characters, and was moved by their individual journeys, as well as their growing relationships with each other. This film manages to overlook current turbulance in the Middle East, as well as barriers such as religious beliefs, and somewhat refreshingly portrays the Lebanese people as they truely are, just the same as everybody else.
According to my own source, the translation from the Arabic/French dialogue to English is somewhat vague, and I was told that it is much funnier in Arabic than what the subtitles allowed. This being said, I still found the subtitles immensly rich and humerous. The music used in the film, although in Arabic sounded somewhat westernised as opposed to the music generally associated with the Middle East. I felt that this helped to reinforce the fact that this story is in fact universal and not just a film concerning women of Lebanese descent.
I will definitely be watching this film again, and highly recommend it to Mothers to watch with their daughters and vice versa. Caramel is a film with one of the best portrayals of female empowerment and independence I have seen so far.
-nome5tar
