Satin Rouge

Rating:
Summary: simple manifestation of an inner landscape
Review: We begin the film following a beautiful widower in her apartment and community. She has a daughter whom she loves and cares for very much, but for her life does not stop because you are a mother. The protagonist, Lilia is a simple yet complex woman, who is not satisfied with the banalities of everyday life. We see her thinking and wondering all the time. She struggles between balancing her life as a mother, the need to express her femininity and to fulfill her desires.
Magically like we say in the Bled, the "Maktoub" leads her to Belly Dancing. Finaly,it is through that art form that our heroine finds her medium to self-understanding and freedom.
Although the film is about a North African woman Tunisian specifically, the theme is a universal one.
So to all the nomads on the journey, go out there and find your "Sating Rouge"

Rating:
Summary: totally loved it!!
Review: What an awesome movie!! Loved it. It spoke to many of us plain janes who looked into a mirror while shimmying to the music. Later, she was as captivated by the sparkle of the sequins, the flow of the silk and the excitement of the stage as many us are. The humor was great, the women's issues were interesting and the "belly dance cabaret" topic was clearly handled. I recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Review from a student and enthusiast of Mid Eastern Dance
Review: Where to start? For a movie I have been waiting to watch for well over a year, I must first say that I was not disappointed. What was the theme? Was it about a belly dancer, or was it about a widowed mother rediscovering life itself? Despite my obsession and often single visioned approach to things - the belly dancing itself was just a setting to frame the larger story.
What happens, when all you've lived for is slipping out of your hands. Widowed with a daughter grown, and ready to leave; Existing within a society where both men and women are a constant pressure and discouragement towards a woman's independence in life, the future may indeed look grim.
Lillia, by accident, stumbles across the nightlife in the caberets - a place where no respected woman would dare go. Why? She originally suspected her daughter of being there with one of the musicians when she did not come home that night. Instead, she found a whole new world. Shocked at first by the smokey atmosphere, bold dancers, and loud audience, she tried to stay away from it... but the friendship of the main dancer, and the allure of the night life itself beckoned to her caged spirit.
By accident she found herself actually dancing one night, encouraged by the rhythm from the darbouka and the clapping and enthusiastic response of the local audience. Her next evening there, she was once again lured out to the floor to dance, though reluctant at first. The playful, flirtatious drum beats egged her on, as did the dancers who came up to help her find the beat. With the applause and praise of the audience, something within broke free, and she lost herself to the wild excited joy of the dance.
After that evening she was theirs. She took happiness in her new found friendship and reawakened sensuality, though she couldn't let those in her day time life know, for it wasn't a respectable way for a woman. She began to give her daughter more freedom to grow, and started also to give more notice of her own appearance... a new pair of heels, a new hair cut. She began to take on a more youthful appearance, reflecting the inward changes of her soul.
I can't say much more about the story without giving away too much more. But needless to say, I greatly enjoyed watching it and would recommend it to all of my women friends. That's another point - though there is a male character that is key to the entire movie (the darbouka player).. there is very little speech from the men... Why? It's a story about a woman. Men might play a part, but they are not the focus.
I would also place a warning for two things.. 1 is simple... It's subtitled, even in DVD format, and 2, some viewers may be offended or put off by some parts of the movie. It is well worth it though, so please, if you have it available to rent or borrow or buy - watch it!