Not often does a Lebanese film gets distribution in the UK, let alone via a major chain like Cineworld, so I decided to see it before it got killed by Indiana Jones and sadly, that's already happened. This film was out for a week and despite only being outdone in per-screen average by two films last weekend, the *need* to have Indiana Jones on 20 (yes, twenty) showings a day has meant death for this film, despite lesser performing films that have been out for weeks like Nim's Island, Speed Racer and Forgetting Sarah Marshall all being given continued runs. Pathetic, even when a foreign language film is relatively successful it gets the rug completely pulled out from underneath it. What is the point?
Anyway, this film, Caramel, is not what I was expecting at all. I was thinking a Lebanese version of Venus Beauty Salon, but this is more of a slice of life than a standard rom-com. This doesn't mean it's not amusing or without funny moments, but it's not the emphasis of the tone. The set up is we meet all these characters with various connections to a beauty salon in Beirut. Layale is the main character (played by writer/director and generally gorgeous Nadine Labaki) who works/runs the shop (I don't think that one is explained) and she is having an affair with a married man whilst drawing the attention of local cop who gives everyone on the street outside parking tickets. There are various other characters who have their own subplots involving a refusal to come to terms with ageing, a hinted at lesbian fascination, what to do about marrying a man who assumes you're a virgin and the struggle between personal happiness and that of family.
This is a very nice film and it's extremely watchable. As a director Labaki is either a big fan of (or obsessed with, depending on your viewpoint) cross cutting, seeing two separate plot strands play out simultaneously and cutting between the two. It's a technique which is the bedrock of her storytelling and I think is not unsuccessful as it continually reinforces what all these different people are going through (done most beautifully in a scene with us seeing Labaki speak on the phone to her man cut with the cop over the road watching her and imagining his side of the conversation). What they are going through though is nothing revelatory and maybe be considered a tad clichéd by some, I just thought it was softly honest.
This is a gentle little film with a fine ensemble who all deliver good turns and makes most of the film more hit than miss. Labaki is the film though and despite at times a certain childish naivety which isn't entirely satisfying to her character she gives a skilled portrayal in the film's most demanding role. What I did like about the film is that it had the confidence not to spell everything out at the end - plotlines vary in their complexity and the subtlety (or sometimes lack thereof, the duality is kind of the point) which she tells them with. Also stories aren't necessarily developed in the way one might expect and sometimes when they are ... they're not even concluded. This is a film that says "To my Beirut" at the conclusion, this is not a story with a beginning, middle and an end, it's like life - people's stories meld into one anothers and sometimes an end can be a beginning. In that respect, the film is a fitting tribute, but what a shame the rampant commercialism couldn't lend the film even 5% of Indiana Jones's potential audience next week.