Lebanon is the country that still hasn’t figured out its national identity yet - people suffered from terrible losses of Civil War, economic crisis and cultural shock. Since the cinema has always reflected the current situation in the country and has been a powerful way for the people to express their fear and dreams, social problems and anxieties. Lebanese cinema can’t be called an industry in a traditional meaning, because there is a small amount of Lebanese films produced every year. The country has a painful history, and in order to share each other’s stories and emotions, Lebanese film makers contributed to the cultural fund of the country by creating tragic, but beautiful films about Civil Was. Lebanese directors showed what war meant to them, to their families and how it became a defining cultural element for all Lebanese people (Khatib 17).
Some representatives of a younger generation of Lebanese film makers started to go beyond the traditional representation of war in the films. In her 2007’s directorial debut «Sukkar banat»(Caramel) Nadin Labaki explored the themes of women empowerment, discovering sexuality, family relations and the institution of Lebanese marriage (El and Soliman 66). Labaki’s «Caramel», which she has directed, co-written and played the lead role, tells about the struggles of identity formation that young Lebanese women face every day.
The film’s title has a deeper meaning - caramel, which is sweet and soft can be rather painful when used for waxing. The same thing applies for the film itself - at first glance it seems colorful and beautiful, with all the lead characters joking and laughing, but as the film progresses the audience starts to understand hidden pain and burden these women have, how traditional Lebanese society and their cultural attributes can be devastating.
Lebanon is a country that has a traditional masculine culture, and although women look empowering and free in «Caramel» with all their beautiful looks and sarcastic comments, in reality they are trapped by countries’s traditional perception of marriage and women. One of the main characters Layale, played by Nadin Labaki, still lives with her parents, although she works in a beauty salon and has a steady income. Since she is not married, she still depends on her family - she can’t talk to men on the phone, while she is at home, everyday Layale gets questions about her marriage plans and she can’t feel free with all that burden. She wants to express herself, wants to be with whomever she chooses, although sometimes she can’t see clearly the reality and falls for a wrong person, who clearly doesn’t deserve her.
The film is powerful enough in terms of expressing confusion about sexual identity and struggle with being honest about it. Lay ale’s friend Rima, who also works in a beauty salon seems to have an interest in one of the clients, who comes over. When she washes the woman’s beautiful hair and looks at her face, there is strong sexual tension between the characters. Both women feel it, and if such situation happened in Europe or United States, there would be a high chance they could meet after work on a date, and if things go well, there even would be a chance they could get married. But Lebanon’s eastern culture is yet to come to the place, where all of such things could happen.
Labaki’s film «Where Do We Go Now?» again features a group of women, living in the half-Muslim, half-Christian village, that struggles with preventing their men from killing each other. The women of the village unite, because they understand there is no point in killing, the country has already suffered enough and such meaningless actions from their husbands’ side won’t do anything good for the people of the village. The fearless women have to come up with different strategies to make sure the bloodbath is over - they are not afraid to bring a group of Ukrainian strippers to the village or bake some hash cookies. Their actions may seem rather extravagant, however, the film shows how bold and creative Lebanese women are.
In her fims, Nadin Labaki shed some led on what it is like to be a smart and beautiful woman, who lives in a country with tragic history, being trapped between the desire to explore modern Western culture with all the freedom and self-identification it offers and having the feeling of obligation and responsibility for their family and society. Nadin Labaki shows what dilemmas the women face every day and how guilty they may feel after having to challenge some of the Lebanese values.
The most powerful message of the movies are hidden within the main characters - ordinary women, who stand with each other no matter what. For example, in «Caramel» Nisreen lies to her soon-to-be husband about her virginity and her closest friends support her in her decision to go through a surgery to restore it. «Where Do We Go Now?» present women of different beliefs working together for their shared goal. Nadine Labaki created great movies, that were able to reflect the contradicting lives of modern Lebanese women with their struggle to balance between the past and the future.
Works Cited
El, Hamamsy W, and Mounira Soliman. "Masculinity and Fatherhood." Popular Culture in the Middle East and North Africa: A Postcolonial Outlook. New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2013. Web. 27 Apr. 2016.
Khatib, Lina. Lebanese Cinema: Imagining the Civil War and Beyond. London: I.B. Tauris, 2008. Web. 27 Apr. 2016.
