Aside from the provocative language and compelling look at two diverse ethnicities I was pretty surprised by the lack of gratuitous nudity in this film as the story instead focuses on the reactions of both main characters. Story is set in an Arab community in Marseilles, France where we see 16 year old Lila (Vahina Giocante) who rides around the neighborhood on her motor bike drawing unwanted attention from the Muslim residents. She catches the attention of 19 year old Chimo (Mohammed Khouas) who needs to write a short novel to get into a good writing school and see's Lila not only as an inspiration but also as a curiosity.
*****SPOILER ALERT***** During their first conversation Lila asks "would you like to see my pussy" and this would set the tone for a relationship that (for the most part) would be based on only explicit talk although she does do him the favor of giving him a hand job while riding together on her motor bike. Chimo's friends give him a hard time about his relationship with her while Lila lives with her aunt who not only may or not be a lesbian but is also very religious. Lila tells Chimo that she would like him to video tape her having sex with a bunch of strangers and she also tells her aunt that she had an erotic encounter with Satan but Chimo never takes advantage of her and instead pours his thoughts into his writing.
This is only the second feature from Lenanese director Ziad Doueiri who scored well with audiences with his first film "West Beirut" and here he takes the story from the 1996 book (from the real Chimo) and creates a pretty captivating look at teen loneliness from two different cultures. Arguably the most interesting aspect of the script comes from the fact that Chimo purposely doesn't take advantage of the precocious Lila and instead uses her as a muse for his talent as a writer. The script also shows that Chimo does grow to care for her greatly but from her explicit language and the problems of his peers in the Arab community Chimo seems taken aback from the events. This is the film debut of Khouas who does a good job of handling the lead role and seems destined for a good acting career but the screen belongs to Giocante and it's easy to see that the camera loves her! Giocante has appeared in many films already but nothing like the role that she has here and it will be very interesting (not to mention titillating) to watch her grow as an actress. This film doesn't offer the gratuitous nudity that one might expect from such a story but it is a very well made film that possesses a script that's nonetheless provocative in nature and gives viewers the chance to see a burgeoning actress in Giocante.
*****SPOILER ALERT***** During their first conversation Lila asks "would you like to see my pussy" and this would set the tone for a relationship that (for the most part) would be based on only explicit talk although she does do him the favor of giving him a hand job while riding together on her motor bike. Chimo's friends give him a hard time about his relationship with her while Lila lives with her aunt who not only may or not be a lesbian but is also very religious. Lila tells Chimo that she would like him to video tape her having sex with a bunch of strangers and she also tells her aunt that she had an erotic encounter with Satan but Chimo never takes advantage of her and instead pours his thoughts into his writing.
This is only the second feature from Lenanese director Ziad Doueiri who scored well with audiences with his first film "West Beirut" and here he takes the story from the 1996 book (from the real Chimo) and creates a pretty captivating look at teen loneliness from two different cultures. Arguably the most interesting aspect of the script comes from the fact that Chimo purposely doesn't take advantage of the precocious Lila and instead uses her as a muse for his talent as a writer. The script also shows that Chimo does grow to care for her greatly but from her explicit language and the problems of his peers in the Arab community Chimo seems taken aback from the events. This is the film debut of Khouas who does a good job of handling the lead role and seems destined for a good acting career but the screen belongs to Giocante and it's easy to see that the camera loves her! Giocante has appeared in many films already but nothing like the role that she has here and it will be very interesting (not to mention titillating) to watch her grow as an actress. This film doesn't offer the gratuitous nudity that one might expect from such a story but it is a very well made film that possesses a script that's nonetheless provocative in nature and gives viewers the chance to see a burgeoning actress in Giocante.