Caramel

The sticky, chewy melted caramel is a bittersweet treat for the viewers, as much as it is for the four Lebanese women in Beirut’s salon called Si Belle. Nadine Labaki’s tale revolving around the intersecting lives of four women working in a salon explores the issues and struggles of women in a conflicted society. One hour into the movie, I could completely bond and empathise with the women. As the story unfolded, a feeling of inexplicable sadness enveloped me.

Labaki, the writer of the plot with Jihad Hojeily and Rodney Al Haddad, owner of the shop is in love with a married man and spends anxious hours waiting for him. While Layale fights against her inner demons making her intensely jealous of her lover’s wife, recently divorced actress Jamale is trying to compete with a younger woman for work in television commercials. Muslim bride-to-be Nisrine fears that her husband will find out that she has lost her virginity and tomboyish Rima wages a futile war against her lesbian instincts. The beauty salon symbolizes a modern world where women from varying age, background come to fulfill their eternal quest for westernization and beauty.

While I could easily bond with the liberated women in the movie, I felt helpless for the lack of clarity and hypocrisy within most of us for the limitations put by the society. Each of us have this constant need to be well-accepted in the society we live in, institutionalized and have a stable job, nice house and a rich husband.

The film also shows Aunty Rose, as she struggles to earn a living by her tailoring job and supports her mentally challenged sister, Lily. The sudden appearance of an old handsome man brings some colour to her otherwise mundane life. Ladaki has shown the romance between the aged couple subtly when Aunty Rose tries to take measurements of his suit or joins him for a quiet dinner at his apartment on her way to deliver the suits. Rose sacrifices her own happiness for her ailing sister.

Women all over the world face similar emotions. Life is not always fair and each of us face moments of loneliness, disappointment and heartbreak. Our toughness, resilience and strength help us overcome these negative feelings.

However, I’m impressed with the kind of camaraderie and support we see among Layale’s co-workers. She can probably find her journey a little easier with the compassion given by her friends.

My own inner struggles, confusions about love, life perhaps lessened a bit. Or should I say, the movie helped my perceptions change for the better.