Caramel

OPIS

A women's hairdressing salon might seem an obvious location for a female-bonding drama, but this assured debut - confidently directed by Lebanese actress Nadine Labaki - is much richer than it seems. Labaki plays the proprietor of a Beirut beauty parlour where the stylists and regular clients meet to share their problems and have a good gossip. Their touching and universally recognisable private woes take priority over the gloomy "bigger picture" here, steering the focus away from potentially alienating Middle Eastern politics. The pacing is staccato at times as the camera weaves the various vignettes together - Labaki mooning over her married lover; the single, selfless seamstress saddled with a demanding, crazy sister; the fretful bride-to-be - but Caramel has a warm-hearted sense of togetherness that makes a truly affecting patchwork of some beautifully observed moments.