spotlightkid Such a lovely film. Rented it through Cinema Paradiso, I am obsessed with French cinema and this was among all the French ones so added it to my list and when it arrived I discovered it wasn't French but I was not disappointed at all. It was such a lovely film,cheerful and sweet,

flickpick135 A thoroughly charming and engaging slice of life from Lebanon. This is truly a unique and wondrous foreign film, romanticizing an exotic land which is often negatively depicted. Director/actress Labaki zones in on the human side here, reminding us that such universal issues as marriage, sexuality, and relationship anxiety are relevant everywhere.Labaki has great screen presence and crafts a tragicomic fable about female relationships. She beautifully elicits natural performances from her non-professional actors and delivers a believable and appealing portrayal herself.This is definitely a must watch for fans of not just foreign films but of enchanting, whimsical cinematic treasures in general. Love it!!!

thisissubtitledmovies When a foreign film manages to make that break across the border and garner international success there's often the expectation that it should act as an ambassador for its country of origin, especially when that nation is not known for its prolific cinematic output. But where does that leave Nadine Labaki's Lebanese romance Caramel? Can any film successfully walk that balance between the light-hearted and the weighty? Caramel may flirt with the anachronistic studio-era concept of being a 'woman's picture' but when the only current offering for strong female leads in cinemas sees entire platoons of the Boots 'here come the girls' set marching blindly into cinemas to watch four over-paid harridans bemoaning the lack of haute couture in Abu Dhabi there has never been a better time to discover the mature and believable view of romance purported by Caramel. Who says rom coms have to be dumb screen fodder? JB

paul2001sw-1 Nadine Labaki's 'Caramel' is a typical girly film, a portrait of the lives and loves of the (female) staff and customers of a beauty salon. What makes it interesting (to a western European) is its setting: Beirut, and the mixture of universal themes and Lebanese culture. It's (mostly) nicely acted, but fundamentally, its mixture of female friendship and the dream of true love is not so different from a thousand other romantic dramas, and I failed to find much impact in its final conclusion when the leading character picks herself up after being dumped by having a haircut. The local colour ultimately flatters to deceive; this is a story could have been told anywhere.