The Blue Caftan
compose and manoeuvre by Maryam Touzani , The Blue Caftan , which debut at the2022 Cannes Film Festival , empathize the depth of Lunaria annua and its effect on love . Two people who have shared their life make out substantially than most their enigma . For the twosome at the center of the film , they are more than just each other ’s confidantes — they sincerely see one another , and offer compassionateness , financial support , and rawness . attractively crafted , The Blue Caftan weaves together the nuanced tale of a couple ’s love story and history in an intricate , blue , and unsounded way .
Halim ( Saleh Bakri ) and Mina ( Lubna Azabal ) run a caftan shop together . Halim does the sewing , while Mina manage the customers . The duet ’s shop class has been struggling ; Halim prefers to make the caftans by hand , but without right help , he can only work on so many and customer become impatient , threatening to take their business elsewhere . Halim and Mina hire Youssef ( Ayoub Missioui ) as an apprentice , but his bond with Halim run mysterious , and it does n’t go unnoticed by Mina .
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In her 2d directorial feature , Touzani crafts a meaningful storey that explores the deepness of love between two citizenry through thick and thin . The author - director treats the characters with the uttermost lordliness and care . The story itself rent some interesting and rather unique crook . The flick is good at subverting a viewer ’s expectation , decease in bracing and unexpected directions that enhance the character kinetics and keep up date . It turns its focus on a issue that is not often hand attention , but its treatment of the narrative is nuanced and rooted in warmhearted understanding .
Touzani ’s film is incredibly elaborate , and cinematographer Virginie Surdej raise her imagination with lingering unaired - ups on Halim ’s manpower as he sew a golden embroidery onto the caftan , or on Mina as she knowingly watch Halim and Youssef interact . The Blue Caftanis , at its core , a account of a deep - rooted love . Mina and Halim have only each other , and the film portrays them as subsist both within and on the outskirts of Moroccan bon ton . They interact with customers and other people they lie with , but they are in their own world , tending to one another and trusting the other to catch them should they fall .
The most beautiful here and now are receive in the fraught silences , the longing steal glimpse , and the warmth in their respective caretaking . It speaks to their shared story and , by the ending , it becomes clean they have never blot out anything from one another . It ’s this striking transparency that uplifts the story as Touzani meticulously chronicles Halim and Mina ’s day , find oneself the tenderness , puff and stability in their human relationship that pull in direction for realizations regarding why they are still together after so long despite everything .
Lubna Azabal and Saleh Bakri in The Blue Caftan
The Blue Caftanis made all the more moving thanks to Bakri and Azabal ’s performance . Bakri has been deliver awful performance for a foresightful time , and his enactment of Halim is no elision . He and Azabal bring an intimacy to their characters , an easy affection that is apparent from the start . Azabal ’s Mina total off as stern , but her making love runs deep , and her do it eyes hold so much that Azabal channel so clearly . Bakri ’s Halim is pain and often restrained , holding so much of the hard emotions in the means he carries himself . When Halim lease his guard down around Youssef , Bakri is at his good , conveying a ferocious sensation of penury and guilt all at once . Missioui has a much smaller role by equivalence , but it ’s no less important . As Youssef , the actor is raw , exuding emotional durability and forgivingness .
The movie may be a slow - burn , but the proceeds and the emotion that get along with it are well worth it . The story finds its deep import in Halim and Mina ’s kinship , and Touzani steadily unfold the level of their marriage to let out the touching ravisher it holds , not unlike Halim ’s carefully cut caftans . The Blue Caftanis poignant , showcasing a different kind of sexual love , one that hold respect , genuine concern , affection , and compassion , all while tackle a not - so - secret between them without creating unneeded stress . Touzani ’s filmmaking is lovely and focussed , filled with emotion and a regard for companionship .
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Saleh Bakri and Ayoub Missioui in The Blue Caftan
The Blue Caftanopened in choice U.S. theater of operations on February 10 . The film is 124 minutes long and not rated .
Lubna Azabal and Saleh Bakri in The Blue Caftan
