'The Blue Caftan': An unusual love triangle in Morocco - review

• Published date: 26 April 2024
• Author: HANNAH BROWN
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

That fabric is at the center of a moving drama about a couple in a small Moroccan city who make silk caftans in their workshop, which turns into an unusual love triangle

Touzani, an accomplished Moroccan filmmaker, also cowrote the screenplay with her husband, director Nabil Ayouch, and the couple are among the most important Moroccan directors working today.

Reviewing the love triangle

Caftans have never looked lovelier than they do in this film, which stars Saleh Bakri – best known in Israel for his Ophir Award-winning performance in Eran Kolirin's The Band's Visit – as Halim, who is a maalem, or master tailor, and runs a shop in a medina with his wife, Mina (Lubna Azabal, who starred in the Oscar-nominated films Incendies and Paradise Now, as well as Guy Nattiv and Erez Tadmor's Strangers).

She keeps their shop organized and sets the prices, while he has amazing sewing and tailoring skills, and creates every garment through hours of meticulous work, each stitch a labor of love and each finished caftan a work of art.

But the two are feeling the pressure of working in a traditional craft, which has been handed down in families for generations, in the fast-paced modern world. Few truly understand how labor-intensive their work is, and people don't want to pay – and wait – for quality. The couple are slowly but surely losing their customers and feel pressure to produce more caftans more quickly. But you can't rush art, and no matter how hard Halim tries, he can't force himself to compromise quality for speed.

They are also under pressure because Mina is dying of cancer. She still manages to bargain with customers for good prices, but she is weakening and worries how Halim will carry on the business without her, although he never wants to talk about this.

In their marriage, there is another issue that they never speak about: Halim is gay, and while he loves Mina, they are more like best friends than husband and wife, and he is truly attracted only to men.

When a new apprentice, Youssef (Ayoub Missioui), comes to learn the trade and help Halim, Mina can't turn a blind eye, as she realizes Halim and Youssef are falling deeply in love. All the treatments for the cancer have failed, and she struggles to overcome her jealousy and find the strength to give Halim her blessing to build a relationship with Youssef when she is gone.

In the community where they live, being openly gay is not an option. Although there are other gay men, as Halim knows well, their sexual...