Satin Rouge

Former belly dancer Raja Amari gently escorts us into the life of a bored, widowed seamstress; the life of her young-adult daughter; and the modern Tunisian cabaret scene with this lean, sensuous story of self-reinvention and sexual awakening. Amari has written and directed an odd but alluring convergence of melodrama and fable from which can be lifted the fingerprints and credibility stretches of such empowerment extravaganzas as Footloose (taboo busting), Flashdance (unfurled ambition) and Dirty Dancing (desire and emerging adulthood). Widow Lilia (Hiam Abbass) attempts to monitor the social life of her rather spoiled Salma (Hend El Fahem) as each woman embraces a double life (Lilia often sneaks off to belly dance, and her daughter sneaks off to romance) that clashes with the area’s predominant Muslim customs and attitudes. Their concurrent love affairs threaten to combust simultaneously. The film only thinly explores the darker side of cabaret life, much in the same way Pretty Woman acknowledged the seamier side of what is arguably the world’s oldest profession, but Abbass’ performance is stellar.