By KATIE JACOB  

Contributing Reporter 

“Caramel,” an exuberant new movie by first-time writer and director Nadine Labaki, will open just in time for Valentines Day. 

Ignoring the conflict that threatens her country and the rest of the Middle East, Lebanese-born Labaki focuses instead on life in the bustling, cluttered, colorful if — slightly decrepit — city of Beirut. 

“Caramel” is her gorgeous, boisterous Valentine to Beirut. 

It is a story about five female friends whose lives intersect at the magical Si Belle, a beauty parlor, where people come and go in search of beauty and love. 

The women struggle against the tension created by clashing cultures and a jumble of religions in a city where tradition pushes back against the irresistible lure of modernity.

At Si Belle, the friends talk about their problems and look for solutions as they grapple with the dilemma of determining who they are. 

Here Labaki attempts to answer the larger question: what is the identity of modern women in a traditional society? 

The movie follows the lives of Layle, Nisrine, Rima, Jamal and Rose. 

Labaki plays Layle, who is involved in an unhappy affair with a married man. 

The equally beautiful Nisrine is about to get married, but worries about letting her boyfriend find out that she is not a virgin.

 Tomboyish Rima comes to life as she shyly acknowledges her attraction for a beautiful client.

Jamal is desperate to hide her age. 

Rose is older, but blossoms with beauty at the prospect of love. 

The women attempt to put their lives in order as they weigh the need to conform against the need for love, truth and loyalty. 

The camera has the unenviable task of trying to keep up with the characters as they frantically rush in and out of Si Belle toward the swirl of life in the colorful streets of Beirut. 

Every scene is richly layered with clutter from the debris of living in an ancient city. The movie is a feast for the senses.

The title refers to hot sugar, used in the salon for sugar waxing, a painful process for removing hair. However, it is also a delicious treat. 

“Caramel,” like life in Beirut, is a source of both pleasure and pain. It is a reminder that love, truth and loyalty, like beauty, come at a cost.