Sukkar Banat

(2007)

RATING:	100%
FORMAT:	DVD

(http://www.reelingreviews.com)

[Caramel]

Dazzlingly-subtle exploration of female sexuality or, rather, the importance of sex and the erotic in women’s lives in forming their own sense of themselves. Only sexual jealousy and cattiness spoil the strong sense of female camaraderie here.

Although the women shown appear free and independent, their fears and anxieties eventually become all-too-obvious as many of them find it very hard to escape the bad social and sexist habits of the past. Here is a very family-oriented culture but, within that, there is the fierce capacity to stifle individuality before it can come into its own.

The performances are natural and unforced and there is also no getting away from the fact that director/star Nadine LABAKI is as beautiful to look at as she is very much a talent to watch. To have achieved so much in a first feature is rare indeed.

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