Show me what you wear I'll tell you who you are

Caramel is a 2007 award-winning Lebanese film. The director, Nadine Labaki is also the main actress in the film. According to IMDb, a popular online database of information affiliated with visual media, that Caramel won five awards including the Argentinean Film Critics Association Awards and was nominated for five others.



The film features the daily lives of five different Lebanese women. Layal, Nesrine and Rima work together in a beauty saloon. Jamal, a woman in her forties is a regular customer of the saloon. Throughout the movie, we see her trying to make herself look younger and convincing herself and everyone around her that she could still be a part of the advertisements’ world. The fifth character is Rose, an aged woman who never got married because of her devotion to take care of her mentally disabled sister, Lili. Rose finally gets to find the love of her life and yet she chooses her sister over her happiness once again.



Throughout the film, we see the direct confrontation between tradition and modernization in different scenes. This is manifested in the opening scene where Layal was making (home-made) Sukar (sugar), a traditional means, which is used for waxing. Then, right after that scene, we see that the saloon has a lot of modern equipment.



The choice of music in the film also emphasizes the clash between tradition and modernization. We see Layal driving her car ¬– a symbol of modernization – while listening to traditional, old Lebanese songs. The wedding song Layal and Jamal were singing to Nesrine in the saloon as a way to celebrate her upcoming wedding. In addition, the music that was played during Nesrine’s wedding was consisting of Mawwals – songs that are typically played in traditional Lebanese weddings. The music in all these scenes bring out the role tradition and culture plays in these characters’ daily lives.



The interior design and the décor in the different houses displayed in the film also demonstrate the clash between tradition and modernization. These houses played an important role in giving the audiences specific ideas about the characters. The architecture of Bassam’s house, Nesrine’s husband, was very traditional with the penthouse and the well. On the other hand, Salah’s (Layal’s married boyfriend) house, we see the aquarium and the modern furniture. One can immediately notice that modernization is the emblem of a highbrow culture in Lebanon. How your house looks like or what car you drive are expressive of which class you belong to, the elite, educated class or the traditional middle-class.



Fashion is also a part of this picture of tradition versus modernization. We see the younger characters more associated with modern clothing. Rose and Lili represented the older generation with their old-fashioned skirts and dresses. On the other hand, we see Layal being the most fashionable among the five women. Fashion seem to signify someone’s status in this movie as well – the more modernized clothes; the higher social class. Upper class people are the ones who wear stylish and elegant clothes.



One can see how music, furniture, fashion are used in movies to indicate of the clash between culture and tradition on the one hand and between modernization and westernization on the other hand.