There's much to say about "Lila dit ça" virtues, such as the vivid camera work (who ever said that to make a lively film you need millions?), the soundtrack (pretty sensual and well chosen) and even the narrative (Lila is the main character, but we see her mostly through Chimo's eyes, the young Arab and wanna-be writer guy, which creates a distance between her and us, the "mistery", actually). Because we don't know Lila, we are in love with her, just like everybody else in the movie is, but we also fear her. Lila is disruptive, immoral and gorgeous, she talks about sex all the time; she touches herself in public and her presentation card is asking "would you like to see my pussy". And she adores teasing her new-found best friend Chimo. But what we don't know about Lila is that all of this is a fake, a mere mask to catch Chimo's attention, whom she believes "different from the rest" (and thus worthy of her attention),a very dangerous game to make herself different and desirable that, much to her own pain, will revert in a wicked -although not unexpected- ending. Has been Lila, thus, been lying? It's difficult to tell, since if we are talking about her sexual fantasies then she has not; problem is, those differ from reality. The more I think about the movie the more I get the impression that what she really has done is a big sacrifice, a sacrifice for love, that is: she has gambled everything on a guy - but Chimo is too impressed by her to realize the big joke - and she has lost. She has played too hard. She was hoping that through a process of differentiating herself from the rest of the world she would get his love, but she has got much more than his love: he admires her, he fears her, he cannot follow her. So who is the liar? Lila, that talks about her true desires? Or, rather, Chimo, who does not, and doesn't realize in time of her love, and can't save her from the world's punishment? What is most unbearable, Lila's open talk, that seems so out of place, or Chimos' friends crude comments (and actions), that, although much more violent, nobody seems to find wrong?
Review of Lila dit ça
