The movie
The Blue Caftan
A warmly poignant film in which you see that love has all kind of different forms.
Description
Maryam Touzani’s The Blue Caftan is an understated chamber piece revolving around unspoken tensions between its three central characters. This latent turmoil allows Touzani to dial down the psychosexual drama and sublimate it in an atmosphere of generalised eroticism. Everyday gestures, from the peeling of tangerines to the embroidery of cloth, become animated by an undercurrent of repressed desire. Shot by Virginie Surdej in the manner of Dutch still-life paintings, the objects in the film acquire a voluptuousness that expresses the unvoiced yearnings of the characters.
The Blue Caftan is powered by the admirable performances of its three leads, Lubna Azabal, Saleh Bakri and debutant Ayoub Missioui, whose movement and action Touzani stylises in keeping with the measured pace and reserved atmosphere of her film.