what?
Nadine Labaki's delightful debut feature signals the arrival of a bright
new talent in world cinema. Set in a Lebanese beauty salon, it follows
the lives and loves of five women, offering a portrait of Beirut that is
very different from the city depicted in news bulletins. Labaki also stars
as Layale, a young woman struggling with a failing relationship with a
married man. The title is taken from the homemade caramel used for
leg waxing in the salon and the film is an equally sweet, golden
comedy of manners.
With perfect timing given recent events comes this Beirut-set tale from actor-director Nadine Labaki.
Layale (Labaki) runs a beauty salon where the speciality of the house is waxing with caramel. When she's not tending to customers' legs, Nadine is waxing lyrical about her own woes (she's involved with a married man) and inviting her customers to do the same.
The characters are the usual band of stouthearted heroines suffering with a smile. Excellent when Labaki looks beyond the salon to focus on the local culture; otherwise, Caramel could be a saccharine chick flick set anywhere.
Lebanon’s candidate for Best Foreign Film is the sort of romantic comedy that you rather dread being remade by Hollywood.
The title refers to the mix of sugar, lemon juice, and water that is used for hair removal in the beauty salon that serves as the focal point of the story.
Beauty therapist Layale – played by director Labaki - is the main applicator of the caramel and interacts with a variety of woman of all ages and class as they come in and out the salon.
The film ebbs and flows through their lives but its gentle engaging humour makes for a pleasant hour and a half.
Review by Alison Rowat © The Herald
Review by Andy Dougan © Evening Times