Review: The Blue Caftan

Screening Schedule - July / August

Fri 21 4:00 Cats in the Museum (G) FINAL

7:30 Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning (Part 1) (M) FINAL

Sat 22 3:00 Rainy Day Only Film (FINAL ONE)!

7:30 The Blue Caftan (M) (subtitles)

The complexity and power of relationships is tenderly examined in this contemporary Arabic love triangle, which will transport you to the bustling, labyrinthine streets of Morocco. If not for the incessant loud music from the barbershop across the road from our main character’s home, The Blue Caftan feels as if it could be set in almost any era of this country’s past.

This is enhanced by the occupation of Halim (Saleeh Bakri), a “maalem” (master caftan tailor) who painstakingly adheres to traditional techniques passed down through the centuries. However, the machine age means customers expect results more quickly, so he employs Youssef (Ayoub Missioui) as an apprentice.

Halim’s wife Mina (Lubna Azabal) serves the customers but is undoubtably in charge of the business, and the household. Despite the fact that she is weathering a terminal illness, as we gradually learn, Mina is force of nature and not to be trifled with.

Her inner strength is given further dimension as we also discover that she is fully aware of her husband’s homosexuality, which they have both adapted to in their deeply loving marriage. However, a growing attraction between Halim and Youssef appears to bring things too close to home for Mina, particularly as her health begins to deteriorate further. A tension between the three grows, but as Mina’s story nears its inevitable conclusion, we see that love really can conquer all.

This is an exquisitely filmed tale, as carefully crafted as Halim’s caftans. The deliberate and precise way in which he works - twisting golden thread into minute and elaborate patterns through vibrant silk garments - is hypnotic, and the interactions between our three main characters are equally well rendered.

Halim’s soulful eyes and quiet voice somehow conveys a fundamental devotion to his marriage, whereas spitfire Mina leaves no-one in any doubt about how she is feeling. A scene where they break some of the antagonism between them with a spontaneous “roleplay” of that day’s encounter with a difficult customer, ends with them both collapsing in laughter. This genuinely funny interaction conveys a rich, warm life together.

Mina eventually accepts Youssef, in a sequence where she begins to dance in front of her window to the barbershop’s blaring music. Deliberately annoying a neighbour who has just loudly complained about the noise, she pulls both men to their feet and the three of them hold a “pop-up dance party” in full view of the street.

There is an interesting dichotomy in the fierce championing of her husband’s dedication to ancient techniques, and her own challenging of Morocco’s strict societal norms and constraints. Variety magazine sums this up perfectly by noting, “The Blue Caftan dares to imagine a world where there’s room for both appreciation of the old ways and room to evolve.”

The titular garment itself is the fourth character in the film, and as we would expect, plays a key role in the final moments. As does the setting of this film. Although it is clear we are in North Africa, almost all the scenes are softly lit interiors or confining narrow streets. We hear seabirds, but no hint of a natural landscape or even the sky is ever glimpsed. That is, until the very end, where the vista we are treated to serves as a triumphant and subversive conclusion.

The Blue Caftan screens tomorrow and Sunday evening, but for those of you looking for a far less subtle cinema experience, Tom Cruise returns tonight in the seventh Mission Impossible film. This wildly successful series is now closing in on its second decade, a task that might have seemed impossible back in the mid-1990s. Whatever insane stunt that Cruise - the world’s most daring “super-ager” - pulls off this time, it will look amazing on the Village Theatre’s big screen.

And rounding off a weekend of variety, Verdi’s Falstaff is the MetOpera screening on Sunday at 4pm.

MEMBER'S NIGHT

9 5:30 Barbie (PG)

Thu 10 7:30 Sugar & Stars (M) FINAL

Fri 11 4:00 The Little Mermaid (PG) FINAL 7:30 Barbie (PG) FINAL

Sat 12 4:30 A Country Cabaret (M)

7:30 NZ Mountain Film Festival (E) $20/$15

Sun 13 2:00 MetOpera: Der Rosenkavalier (Strauss) (PG) $35/$30

7:30 My Sailor, My Love (PG) FINAL

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THIS PROGRAMME:

Come along and enjoy a social night with drinks and nibbles from 7pm followed by a movie at 7.30. New members welcome.

29 th

SATURDAY 4.30 FILMS

From Saturday 29th July we are trialling an extra screening on a Saturday at 4.30. If it proves to be popular it will continue on our next programme. Use it or lose it!

Movie Descriptions

North by Northwest (1959) (G) Classic Cinema 2hr15m

The Hitchcock mistakenidentity classic featuring two of the most memorable moments in cinema: Cary Grant being chased by an airplane, and the climatic fight atop Mount Rushmore.

Warren Miller: The Daymaker (E) Documentary 1hr40m

Come along as Warren Miller takes you on a musical, romantic journey to the high peaks. From British Columbia’s Monashee mountains to the throne of Greece’s Olympus mountains.

NZ Mountain

Film

Musical/Romance

Festival (E) Documentary 2hrs

For one night only we have an outstanding collection of unique adventure films from NZ's only homegrown Mountain Film Festival. See world-class NZ made films mixed with the world's finest .

Met Opera: Der Rosenkavalier (Strauss) (PG) 5hrs

A stellar trio assembles to take on the lead roles of Strauss’s comedy, with soprano Lise Davidsen in her Met role debut as the Marschallin, opposite mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard.

Country Cabaret (M) Comedy/Drama (subtitles) 1hr50m

David's dairy farm is on the brink of liquidation. When he chances on a dazzling nightclub performance by Bonnie Starlight, inspiration strikes. What if he turned his old barn into a cabaret?

NZ MOUNTAIN FILM FEST

For one night only we have an outstanding collection of adventure films showcasing high octane sports. International and NZ made. Tickets $20/ $15

Sugar & Stars (M) Drama (subtitles) 1hr50m

From an early age, Yazid has had only one passion: pastry. Raised in a foster family and a home, he has forged an indomitable character. From Epernay to Paris via Monaco, he will try to realise his dream.

My Sailor, My Love (PG) Drama/Romance 1hr40m

Howard a retired sailor and widower, lives in a house by the sea. His adult daughter Grace hires a caretaker for her father, a lady in her mature years, Annie. What follows is a romantic awakening.

Oppenheimer (M) Drama/True Story/Biography 3hrs

Christopher Nolan tells the story of American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer, played by Cillian Murphy, and his role in the development of the atomic bomb. A story that resonates in today's world.

Barbie (PG) Comedy 2hrs

In one of the more curious mixes of talents and source material, this is the live action feature of Mattel's Barbie. Margot Robbie stars as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken. Plastic fantastic!

The Quiet Girl (M) Drama 1hr40m

Adventure/Science Fiction Musical/Romance

An award winner at Berlin 2022, this Irish tale follows a shy nine-year-old who has been separated from her immediate family and left in the care of two distant relatives for the summer.

...twos, ducking under the rope cordon, before being vetted at the door and allowed in. By 2pm, there were around 40 attendees inside the hall, but they were outnumbered by a crowd of more than 100 placard-waving, waiata-singing protestors. Leading the singing throughout the afternoon, Mihi Rangihika waved her wireless speaker above her head as she danced in front of the hall.

On the other side of the cordon, facing Mihi and the protestors, the preacher’s dedicated disciple and alleged white supremacist Lee Williams paraded with his phone lens pointed towards the crowd, before taking up his position on the door. The event was advertised as a private function with the organisers reserving the right to refuse entry, something Williams exercised in his role as unofficial “bouncer”.

Before the talk began, Anya van Holten and Shan Ruijter were ejected from the hall. Anja said she was “interrogated in a very aggressive way”, while Shan explained that, despite not saying a word, they were thrown out by Williams because “we looked hostile”.

Every person who left the building was cheered by the protestors and there were regular opportunities to do so. Leaving of their own free will, John and Susan Snelgrove emerged after half an hour. “The main thing I came for is that I stand for freedom of speech,” said John, adding that he left because “Julian himself talked down to us… I felt uncomfortable”.

An hour into the talk, James Kaa was escorted out by a police officer. James said his “crime” was singing “Jesus loves me, yes I know”.

Describing the presentation, James said: “It’s toxic misinformation. It’s not a healthy environment; it really saddens me.” He accused Batchelor of following the far-right populist playbook, interested only in fomenting division and raising cash. “He just twists things like Donald Trump; he’s in it for the money; he’s a grifter.”

At 3.20pm, two women emerged saying, “We decided we’d had enough”, closely followed by Max van Susteren who had been asked to leave.

“He [Batchelor] related it to the Napoleonic wars and how England was a superpower,” said Max, referring to those in the hall as representatives of “the land of the wrong white crowd”.

As Max was talking, verbal sparring turned to physical violence at the entrance to the hall, where Lee Williams appeared at the centre of a melee. After the scuffle was broken up by protestors and police, Williams was accused of throwing punches and violently restraining peacemaker Sonia Ann Norton, who emerged with blood on her cheek. “He [Williams]