Caramel is a romantic comedy centered on the daily lives of five Lebanese women living in Beirut, each of whom has a totally different love problem. Layale is having an affair with a married man. Nisrine, who is soon be married, is not a virgin. Rima and a beautiful salon customer, Siham, have obvious lesbian feelings for each other. Jamal, a customer and a TV ad actress, is worried about getting old. Rose, a tailor/seamstress with a shop next to the salon, is an older lady who finally finds a man to love, after devoting her life to taking care of her of older sister (or mother), Lili, who has mental problems: probably suffering from Alzheimer's.
The men are incidental to the stories of the women. Youssef is a shy, young traffic policeman who is smitten with Layale. Charles, an older man, becomes Rose's suitor.
The stories of Layale and Rose are well developed and beautifully poignant. The story of Rima is also poignant because of the homosexual taboos, the probable reason for the lack of a fuller development of the story. Nasrine's story provides much of the comedy of the film. The story of Jamal, although well acted, is not very interesting and the love element is not developed beyond a desperate desire to look younger, suggesting that she has no lover; that story could have been deleted from the film, leaving the character in a minor role.
Each of the stories ends differently: with different combinations of desperation, resignation, hope and/or marriage.
I rated the film at 7/10 but, had the story of Jamal been played down, I would have given it 8/10.
The men are incidental to the stories of the women. Youssef is a shy, young traffic policeman who is smitten with Layale. Charles, an older man, becomes Rose's suitor.
The stories of Layale and Rose are well developed and beautifully poignant. The story of Rima is also poignant because of the homosexual taboos, the probable reason for the lack of a fuller development of the story. Nasrine's story provides much of the comedy of the film. The story of Jamal, although well acted, is not very interesting and the love element is not developed beyond a desperate desire to look younger, suggesting that she has no lover; that story could have been deleted from the film, leaving the character in a minor role.
Each of the stories ends differently: with different combinations of desperation, resignation, hope and/or marriage.
I rated the film at 7/10 but, had the story of Jamal been played down, I would have given it 8/10.