Film Review - The Blue Caftan
Images courtesy of Potential Films.
The Blue Caftan (2023) is a standout film from this year’s Melbourne Queer Film Festival and Director Maryam Touzani’s fourth film, her second film to represent Morocco at the Oscars. Touzani’s work often focuses on ‘outcasts’ trying to navigate their way through a strict world, where identity is lost through the attempt to fit in. This is true for her character Halim, the stunning and gentle star in The Blue Caftan.
Halim is a soft spoken Maleem (master tailor) who hides in the back of his shop, while his wife Mina works the front of house, often turning away returning customers asking for the delivery date of their order. Halim works slowly, but his work is exquisite. The snail-like turnaround of their goods puts the couple in need of an apprentice, so when Youssef, a young man with skills as a tailor comes knocking, he is put to work right away.
Day in, day out, Youssef and Halim work hard in the back of the shop, hidden from Mina, customers, and the outside world for hours on end. The two grow a unique bond which is nurtured by the secrecy they are sworn to keep from society. However Halim keeps his cool, condemning his sexuality to the confines of a small room in a local Hammam (bath house). Youssef struggles to reveal Halim’s vulnerability, and is picked on by Mina for displaying affection or staring too long.
It is evident that Mina is aware and in quiet support of Halim’s sexuality, but when Mina becomes ill, and Halim has to take time off work, we see the beauty and great sadness in their love. It is undeniable that both are devoted to each other, but Mina is constantly pining over and begging for affection from a man she knows cannot provide it: he is unreachable for her, and he knows this. Halim grows ashamed that he cannot give her what she deserves, although he wishes they could. Instead, they both settle for what is one of the most profound friendships I have ever seen in film. It is easy to fall in love with them, the way they share each others’ company, and how well they know each other.
This film, meditative and delicate in its portrayal of two queer men in a muslim country, is important for people being pushed to the margins by ideology that is outdated and homophobic and is therefore an important moment in African cinema, not to be missed.
The Blue Caftan is screening in cinemas from Thursday 18th May. For tickets and more info, click here.