RSS

Contact us

Tuesday 7 October 2008

Sister act

Caramel
PG, Key cities

This is a film about sisters doing it for each other, as sisters do, and as I would for any other sister (so long as she is fatter than me and has less cool stuff, obviously). But it has a wonderful expressiveness and authenticity, aided not just by the faded glamour of the streets and salon, but also because it’s largely played out by a non-professional cast. Aunt Rose, the seamstress who lives next door, is a particular treasure, as is her dotty older sister, who steals parking tickets off cars believing they are letters from a lost love. This is funny and sad, as so much of Caramel is.

The men are, admittedly, only vaguely sketched but as the policeman who has the crush on Layale is so dishy, do I care? I do not. Is this a woman’s film? I don’t think so but, that said, when I wrote, higher up, about Jamale faking her own periods — so that no one would know she was post- menopause — I took it out, knowing that once a man reads ‘period’ he will go no further. (Men fear women and periods almost as much as they fear misplacing the remote control.) But, boys, you must get over it, as it would be such a shame otherwise. And all your friends and family say as much, too.

The characters are, probably, a little overromanticised, but, again, it hardly matters, as the film is so full of exquisitely observed incidents and details: Rose’s suitor wandering away in the trousers that are too short; Rima dreamily and erotically washing her client’s hair; the wife of Layale’s lover arriving at the salon for a leg wax, administered by a not-so-tender Layale (ouch). Actually, they don’t use wax in the Middle East. They use a sugar paste to strip away the hair, hence the title of the film, and which may also be a metaphor: that which is golden and sweet can also sting.

Caramel is sweet, but it’s never sickly, and it never shies away from how these women have to work round what society has planned for them. It’s not groundbreaking but it is, at least, very non-Tarantino. No casual acts of violence or cruelty, just casual acts of kindness and loyalty. Caramel is just the film we all need right now, and, if you don’t get something from it, I’ll eat my hat. You’ll eat your cheese, obviously, but I will eat my hat.

More articles from: Deborah Ross | this section

Print this article  |  Email to a friend  |  Permalink  |   Comment

Post this entry to:   del.icio.us | Digg | Newsvine | NowPublic | Reddit

Advertisement

Spectator Business | Apollo Magazine

Corporate | Advertising | Privacy | Terms

Spectator, 22 Old Queen Street, London, SW1H 9HP

All Articles and Content Copyright ©2008 by The Spectator | All Rights Reserved