Le Bleu Du Caftan (Arabic) [The Blue Caftan]

I have to say that I absolutely loved this slow burning film. I feel some sort of connection with middle eastern culture, people, food etc. The film is slow burning, but it shows the endless possibilities of love and how communication and love is important in every relationship. The film is moving , its sensitive, its humane, its slow; but films like these are your cup of tea (which I will gladly admit that its not for everyone), you will love the film , like I did.

Set in a traditional Medina in Morocco, we meet Halim and Mina, a couple in probably 40s or 50s running a store. Halim is more than just a tailor. He works lovingly and painstakingly, hand-embroidering silks so exquisitely fine they are like wearing air, while his wife attends to customers and takes care of all operations. Halim, with his sad eyes and melodic, minor-key voice, loves his wife deeply, but the couple live with the secret of his homosexuality – something Mina somehow knows and has come to accept. With occasional trips to the hamam, Halim takes care of his needs. Things start to change when they hire a young apprentice Youssef, a very shy and quiet young man who shows deep appreciation for the work Halim does. A part of Mina knows about the attraction between the two men, and it's evident in the ways she talks with Youssef, treating him nothing more than a worker. Over a period, with slow glances and touches something Strats to brew between Halim and Youssef, but Halim is too scared. Mina, meanwhile is gravely ill and almost on her death bed. Despite his longings, Halim is a loyal and diligent husband, and he does it out of more than a sense of duty. Youssef stays by his side and he and Halim start working form home while taking care of Mina. They are making this blue caftan, supposedly one of the best works Halim has ever made. And this is when Mina realizes that the two men really love each other and care for one another. She starts to make Youssef feel at home because part of her feels that Halim will have love and company after she is gone. The more time the trip spend, the happier are some of her last moments until the tragedy finally strikes.

The best thing about the film is that the film stays compassionate and lets the scenes and situations play out by themselves. No one gives a big speech around anything at all. The society these people live are different. Unlike west, where folks can be all about shoring their feelings from rooftops, in some eastern and middle eastern cultures, things are not that easy, even more so when homosexuality is involved. Feelings are expressed through actions, like how Halim takes over household cooking once Mina becomes too sick to work, or when Youssef reattaches himself to Halim and the shop after a brief estrangement. There are so many nuances and scenes that depict love and respect at the same time. The moments that show the slow yet mutual attraction between Halim and Youssef are done with such finest, it's warming to watch. We see shots of Youssef waving the threads, Halim sewing the knots and embroidery, the slight touches of their fingers while he teaches him things and more like this. We are definitely empathizing with Halim who has repressed his feelings t throughout his life, and yet he remains a dutiful husband. In one of the very poignant scenes towards the end, we hear when Halim tells his wife how he tried to suppress his feelings and later tells Youssef how his mother died going birth to him and his father alway blamed him. It's only when Mina, the wife came into his life that things changed for him. Interestingly, most of the times, the films shows love though its protagonists is when they come from behind. The moment when Youssef finally gets courage to huge Halim from behind but gets rebuked. Halim will eventually get around to returning the embrace in a sequence where Youssef walks out of the couple’s home in tears and Halim holds his pupil from behind so that he doesn’t collapse. The there principal actors all seem to be masters in their craft. Young Youssef is probably a new actor; but I have definitely seen the other two in other films. Mina was a lead in one of my all time fav films 'Incendies'.

This haunting film is about the quiet love and tenderness that people may have for each other, which makes the ordinary extraordinary. We come to know and understand more about these three as their lives entwine into a new way of living.. My love for this film is precisely because the film is slow and poignant and makes you live and breathe every single moment and frame and reaction from its story and its actors. This is definitely not everyone's cup of tea, but for me, more of such films please. (9/10)