Sayang Wayang: Caramel (2007) @ سكر بنات Sukkar Banat‎

Monday 13 April 2009

Caramel (2007) @ سكر بنات Sukkar Banat‎

Caramel is an epilation method that consists of heatin sugar, water and lemon juice; then usin the sticky paste to remove body hair.

At a glance:
Middle Eastern women never looked more accessible than in Caramel (2007) @ سكر بنات Sukkar Banat‎. In this colourful MTV rom-com (the director comes from a music video background), they look like American girls you can readily hit on, if not for the fact that they live in Beirut and some Lebanese beard patrol might gun you down for starin. Oh, the movie? Well it's some faux-feminist bollocks where most of the action happens in a beauty parlour.

Nadine Labaki

Bad news on the doorstep:
It's some faux-feminist bollocks where most of the action happens in a beauty parlour.
Watch out for:
Caramel-skinned Nadine Labaki (pic, pink) who directs and stars. Such skin, such fine, fine skin.
Reminds me of:
The hot thirtysomethin Lebanese milf whom I sat with on my flight to the HK Filmart recently. Aaahh... I wish she called but I guess I knew better when she introduced me to her five sons on board. The eldest looked like he wanted to sock me.
Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?
I'll go for three with some good soppy music too. The film was Lebanon's official submission to the 80th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film.
Bonus material:

Here are some photos of Nadine Labaki for your viewin pleasure. She's obviously the highlight of the movie and here's what the movie people wanted you to know about her: Born in Lebanon in 1974, she passed her Baccalaureat in 1993 and studied media at Saint-Joseph University in Beirut, graduatin in 1997. 11 RUE PASTEUR, her school film project was awarded first prize for short films at IMA’s Biennale du Cinema arabe in Paris in 1998. She went on to direct commercials and music videos for Middle Eastern entertainers and was awarded several prizes in 2002 and 2003. In 2004, she attended the Residence du Festival de Cannes to write Caramel, her first feature length film.