"Le bleu du caftan" or "The Blue Caftan" is a co-production between Morocco and three European countries, but if you look at who made this film and where it is set, you can say that the North African factor here is pretty dominant. Also, it was Morocco's official submission to the Academy Awards and also managed to make the shortlist, but this was it. It did not succeed afterwards and did not become a nominee. I am a bit surprised by that even. I think this film really would have been up the Academy's alley and I would not have been surprised either if it won the big prize. But oh well, it wasn't meant to be. Maybe the gay-themed aspect was not significant enough for the very liberal Oscars. I am still more surprised that it did not get nominated than I am surprised that it made the shortlist. The director is female Maryan Touzani and she launched her career with a short film over a decade ago now and then focused a bit more on writing than directing, but now it is definitely both for her and as she is only in her early 40s now, maybe pretty old already looking at how she has not been in the industry for too long, it seems likely that she will take the next step and I can see her direct films at Hollywood in the near future. We will see how that goes. In any case, I am fairly convinced she will still be shooting films 20 years from now if nothing unforeseeable happens. The awards success for this one here was really good. Approximately ten wins and more than another ten nominations does not sound too much, but looking at where these successes happened, spread all over the Globe, especially America and Europe, it is quite something. And the almost Oscar nomination is pretty big too of course and same is true about the triumph at Cannes. The nominations/considerations would already have been quite something, but indeed taking home one Palme takes it to the next level there. Her co-writer here is Nabil Ayouch by the way and it is not the first time that these two have collaborated and he is more experienced than Touzani and it probably helped and made sure this would become a pretty good movie overall.
I honestly cannot say too much about the cast here, but it is a fairly small cast list anyway, not too many different people you will see in front of the camera here although it is a fairly long film at slightly over two hours. The biggest reason for that is that most of the action takes place inside. We have the two protagonists, the assistant from their workplace who turns into a friend in the end too and other than that it is mostly customers who come to buy certain outfits and dresses. Anyway, if we look at the cast, you will see that the female protagonist is played by an actress who is a mix between Belgian, Spanish and Moroccan and the latter background makes her suitable for the role I guess although she would have worked the part too as a full-on Spanish actress I am sure. Her name sounds very Spanish, Lubna Azabal. The talent is there. I am still a bit surprised she got first credit here, but I like it nonetheless and it also makes sense as the longer the film goes, the more it moves away from what is between the two men and instead focuses on the female protagonist's ailing health. Saleh Bakri also would have made a good choice for first credit though. His turn is not as showy as Azabal's, but the talent is there too. A really quietly convincing performance, he made a lot with what he was given. Ayoub Missioui is the youngest central cast member, not as significant as the other two, but he also does fine overall. The scenes in which he is accused of having stolen something and later on told that they know he is innocent were maybe the best for him. He held his own fairly well next to the other two.
So yes, this was nominated for the Queer Palme d'Or in Cannes and the reason is of course the relationship between the two men, but at the same time I am not sure if this is such a good nomination that really makes sense because the element of homosexuality may be there, but it is never what the film is about and I actually liked that. You keep it in mind, but the film still had some really nice subtlety and did not feel the need to constantly remind you of this aspect. There was one specific moment that summarized how well it was handled here and that was when the male protagonist was looking at his young employee when the latter was changing his shirt. This could have been a moment that would have sucked in other films, but by the inclusion of the man's wife in this scene and how she looks at him there and probably understands what is going on, the scene was not just saved, but turned into something good even. It also made sense then how she told the young man to change clothes at home in the future, how she in general bullied him around a bit because she knew he had something her man desired, but that she could never give him. In this context, with the woman then being close to death, her words to her husband that he should live his feelings were remarkable too without a doubt. She bears no grudge, just wants him to be happy when she is gone. The element of initiative is also one that can be talked a bit about here. We are informed that it was her who proposed to him, we witness how it is her who takes the initiative for them to have sex and who maybe enjoys it more too, so it clear that his mind may be elsewhere and not only for the last month or so. Of course, the Arab world is an especially tough region for homosexuality and we know how the Islam deals with it, but this does not keep it from existing. We also see that during the scene in the pub or bar where he occasionally goes to and it's not the drinks there that are on his mind, but it is what happens in the backroom. It was also funny when his wife accompanied him there on one occasion. The other guys there were not too happy and also made her feel that she does not belong.
Anyway, if you look at all the issues in here, then you can say that it is a very dramatic film and the female protagonist's (not only) playful dedication and willpower like when she says the young man must stay and have food with them can distract from the seriousness of it all only temporarily. What do we have here? We have a woman who is terminally ill. We could guess it was due to cancer and then towards the end we see they had one of her breasts removed, so it proves true that it was the disease that women fear maybe more than any mother. We have the protagonist's tailor business not going too well because of advancing technology and machines being able to do what they do with their hands still, even if machines can never be as creative as they are. The "they" refers mostly to the male protagonist here and maybe to his assistant too, but not really to the woman who runs the business and makes sure the customers do not act in an unfair manner. And then there is the element of two men having feelings for each other in an area of the world where it could not be a bigger challenge to live these feelings. It is impossible to fix all this in one movie and it also would not have felt realistic. I like the approach Touzani was taking here overall and I must say that the more I think about this film, the more I realize that not a lot is missing for this to be a great and not only a good or decent film. But it did not (yet) manage to get there fully that I would say it is among the best of the year. Maybe it will on rewatch. The element of the tailor profession was also depicted nicely, not only in terms of the blue caftan, but also for example relatively early in the film when we find out about a really old piece of clothing somebody brings to their place, something that is not even made anymore like this, which makes it almost priceless. Also the spectacular buttons But it was not just this. It also felt fascinating to watch the man/men during their work. The scissor sounds were great, but just the general premise.
The ending of the film with the woman dead and the man not listening to the words of the other women who dressed her were another highlight. How he dressed her corpse in this beautiful blue caftan and carried her (with his assistant) through the entire city or village or maybe town is the most accurate word in terms of population was easily among the most memorable inclusions the film had to offer and also a good way to find closure. Not just for the woman, but also for the man, for both men actually. We can only speculate how the film goes on and I am sure one of these uncountable awful gay-themed films would have depicted immediately how the two men are becoming a couple now for a totally happy ending then, but this would have been the worst choice ever because it would have disrespected the dead woman and also made no sense in terms of her husband who of course will be in a state of mourning for quite some time and not right away jump into the next romantic involvement. So it was all done right here. I definitely recommend seeing this film. It does not have to be at the movies, but can also be when it comes to stores or television, but you should see it. It is definitely worth it and please excuse the little play on words in the title of my review. I just had to and hey Kechiche with his background fits here too given the ethnicity. That is all then. As I said, go see it. There are many good moments in here. I cannot mention them all, but the scene when he is feeding her tangerines (or oranges?) was also a thing of beauty. I feel almost bad calling this a gay-themed film with all the atrocious gay-themed films out there. This one here has so much more to offer. Don't miss out. I also like the (not so) small difference between the international and original French-language title. Now I still wonder why it is in French because after all the film was not. Okay, enough now.
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