Lila dit ça (2004) User Reviews

Can't have any complaints

[YorkieT · 7/10 · 3 February 2005]

I just saw it, and I was really pleased. Very nice movie, disturbing at times, but in a very nice way. I believe the Ziad Doueiry really knows how to make good things out of his low budget: Very nice camera movement. Very good lighting, very nice image. And a very nice story. Also a lot of details that make the movie seem rather clever. Credit also goes to Vahina Giocante, whose performance is stunning. No matter how much she tries to disturb you, you will love her more and more as the movie goes on. If you're a big fan of beauty, be prepared, you're really gonna enjoy her. Back to Ziad Doueiry: he certainly proved that West Beirut wasn't a matter of luck. He's proving that he is a very good Lebanese director. And believe me, it's hard to be a good Lebanese director, due to the limited funds available, which can have a negative effect, "physically" (if you know what I mean) and morally.

Fantasy and Reality

[claudio_carvalho · 8/10 · 1 March 2007]

In a poor Arab neighborhood, the nineteen years old Chimo (Mohammed Khouas) lives alone with his mother and is a talented natural writer. His school teacher offers him the chance to study in Paris, inclusive with a letter of recommendation, but his mother can not afford and Chimo stays. His three best friends are completely losers and scoundrels. When the shy Chimo meets the gorgeous and sexy new-arrival in the ghetto Lila (Vahina Giocante), who lives with a deranged aunt, his gross friend Mouloud (Karim Ben Haddou) falls for her. However, Chimo becomes close to Lila, who seduces him with her sexual games, telling him about her perverted sexual experience. The inexperienced Chimo falls in love for her, but he does not know how to declare his love for the girl. When Mouloud sneaks and listens to a private conversation between Lila and Chimo, he concludes that the girl is a whore, with tragic consequences.

"Lila Dit Ça" is a wonderful coming-of-age low-budget movie, with a simple, touching, sensitive, consistent and real love story and magnificent direction, screenplay and performances. The tale shows also the lack of perspective of the youngsters of the lower classes in a First World Country and the effects of ignorance and prejudice. The unknown Mohammed Khouas is an excellent actor, and as Lila says, has very expressive eyes. Vahina Giocante is also great and very beautiful, with a perfect chemistry with Mohammed Khouas. I highly recommend this movie for viewers that wish to see a beautiful and sad romance. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Lila Diz…" ("Lila Says…")

Loves of a blonde

[jotix100 · 8/10 · 30 June 2005]

Lila, a pretty blonde girl living in the Arab quarter of Marseilles, sticks out like a sore thumb. Lila is young, voluptuous, and totally foreign, in contrast with the rest of the inhabitants of that neighborhood. Therefore, Lila becomes the object of desire for Chimo and his three cronies that seem to spend their time hanging out without any jobs to go to.

Thus begins this erotically charge tale of a romance between two unlikely partners, the blonde Lila and the dark and intense Chimo. Ziad Doueiri, the Lebanese director, bases his film in a novel by Chimo that from what we have read is an explicit account of their relationship.

Lila likes Chimo from the beginning. She realizes he isn't like the rest of his worthless friends. Lila loves to tease Chimo with her tales of erotic fantasies and loves talking 'dirty' to him. Chimo becomes infatuated with Lila, much to his friends' chagrin, who feel left out by Chimo's involvement with Lila. It's Mouloud, the more vocal of the gang that goes to spy on Lila and Chimo, but not finding anything, he returns to the girl's apartment with his friends to harm Lila.

It's not until that point, when Chimo goes to the apartment and finds Lila crying hysterically that he realizes the true secret about Lila, which is confirmed at the end of the film when the mysterious driver of the grey limousine that supposedly comes to pick up Lila for fun and games, is revealed to the audience. Then, and only then, we realize we have been taken for a ride by the Mr. Doueiri, as we realize Lila is just an innocent young woman.

Vahina Giocante makes a beautiful Lila, a girl that seems much older than her years reveal. Mohammaed Khouas is an enigmatic and serious Chimo. Karim Ben Haddou plays Mouloud, the man who misreads the relationship between Lila and Chimo.

The film message seems to point that beauty is only skin deep and that appearances are deceiving. Mr. Doueiri shows he has the potential for giving his viewers a run for their money.

She said what I would like to hear!

[mario_c · 7/10 · 22 August 2007]

"Lila dit ça" is a contemporary story about two teenagers, Chimo and Lila, which have a hidden attraction for each other in spite of not knowing each other very well…

Chimo (Mohammed Khouas) is a young Muslim guy which lives with his mother and has a group of friends also Arab. He's quieter than the others, he's calm, peaceful and has a great dream: to become a writer… but he thinks he'll never get it…

Lila (Vahina Giocante) is a mysterious young girl who arrives in the neighborhood. From the very first moment Chimo is in love with her. At the beginning he didn't notice, he thinks it's just an attraction, but then he'll understand he is… Lila is mysterious, acts strangely, but she's beautiful. She has the face of an angel (as is said by herself in the movie!) but the mind of a devil… She's provocative, insinuating, and she's always speaking about sex, and about her sex… She's a real devil with an angel face! But is she in love with Chimo (as he's for her), or is it just a game to her? By the end the viewer will find out!

It's a story about passion (teenage passion), self-discovery, teenage relationships, but it also portrays a reality of mixed cultures. It describes very well the shock between different cultures which stand side-by-side in the French suburbs nowadays… It's just the plot's background but it ends being a good social portrait of these different cultures.

All in all it's a good movie which deserves a 7/10 score!

Lila speaks from her lonely existence

[rosscinema · 7/10 · 8 August 2005]

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.

By the end, you understand the title...

[pickymiss · 9/10 · 11 February 2006]

I found this film very enjoyable. I believe the setting is actually Marseilles... not a Paris suburb as was mentioned in another review, However, a "poorer neighborhood" of "anywhere, big-city France" would describe it. I think this film can even provide a bit of insight into the underlying causes of the riots in France in Fall 2005.

Lila is an orphan, lives with her aunt/foster mother. She is beautiful and says many shocking things, even in the first two or three minutes of the film. (I would probably not let children watch this movie due to language, more than any other type of content.) Lila is a character who the viewer does not fully understand until the end of the film, which I will not spoil here. I was called back to my own adolescence while watching her character's actions and even more so by the end of the film.

Chimo is a complex character and it is fascinating to see his story. I have met many "Chimos." He is stuck in a life that he did not create, yet feels helpless to change, so he doesn't try. As the movie begins, he is writing and telling a story, thereby setting the stage for all the meetings with Lila that are included in the film.

Chimo and his mother have an interesting relationship. He definitely loves her, but he is frustrated because he believes she has given up on living a full life. The same could be said of his mother as she questions his motivation-level.

I really enjoyed this film and think it is beautifully filmed. Makes me want to visit Marseilles.

The songs were well-chosen. I actually wished more of the soundtrack had been French or Arabic music, perhaps it was more real that many songs are in English. I am not sure what French teenagers listen to...

I recommend this film to viewers over 16 years old, but actually could see watching it with younger adolescents as a catalyst for a "teachable moment."

A bittersweet ending that leaves some details hanging for the viewer to fill in.

A stunning young woman named Lila seduces a shy Arab who is a talented writer.

[frecklejuicy · 7/10 · 10 September 2005]

"Precious" Lila? I'm sorry, but precious is the last thing I would call Lila. She seems to me to be quite the slut. Despite this, I did like the film in that it was in French (which is my major, so I'm biased) and the acting throughout was superb. "Lila Dit Ca" is a beautifully shot film, but not for young viewers, since much of the dialogue is explicit. You will blush, some of Lila's actions are a bit extreme. I liked the ending--it was both uplifting and realistic. This was certainly unlike any other film I've seen, so I feel like I'm broadening my horizons. This is not a waste of an hour and a half, I would recommend it.

A Fresh and Frank Update of Romeo & Juliet

[noralee · 9/10 · 18 July 2005]

"Lila Says (Lila dit ça)" is the freshest and most original update of "Romeo and Juliet" since "West Side Story."

The transgressive nature of their relationship is dealt with much more explicitly, both in their differences and their sexual attraction. Parallel to "À Tout de Suite (Right Now)" as a relationship between a Polish blonde, "Lila," and an Arab teen, "Chimo," and both being based on putatively true stories, it has far more passion and gets us right into their heads as these two most unlikely soul mates find each other.

Lila's sudden appearance in the vividly shown immigrant slums of Marseilles stands her out immediately, like "an angel" she claims and she is clearly fascinated by his "olive skin." They each reach out counter to their culture and tantalize taboos -- he eschews macho aggression for transfixed listening, while she is quite literally a C.T., with arousing sexual descriptions pouring out of that potty pouty mouth very much like a modern day Scheherazade in an Arabian Days, particularly on one quite memorable bike ride.

We see more and more how this odd relationship becomes a haven for them, as she is an orphaned victim of sexual abuse who has learned the power of being seen as a Lolita fantasy object and he is surrounded by, as he calls them, "losers", frustrated by unemployment and post-9/11 suspicions. They start having an effect on each other as they learn to trust each other in one of the most tender evocations of first love amidst a way too sexually and politically charged environment.

She has a disturbed relationship with her female guardian, while "Chimo" has an unusually supportive and warm relationship with his mother, who was abandoned by his father's attraction to a Frenchwoman, which may explain why he is so much more sensitive than his rough and resentful friends.

When the pair's tentative pas de deux, however, starts to touch other people as they challenge expectations, he when he is faithful to her despite her challenging language of temptation and she by openly mocking the link between sex and religion, they incite jealousies and hysteria that build up in horrific speed to an unexpected tragedy and revelation that has incredible force and power.

It is somewhat of a cliché in the young immigrant love genre that "Chimo" as the narrator is struggling with being a writer, but his talent and insights fit both sweetly and dramatically into the storytelling.

Vahina Giocante, as "Lila," shifts amazingly from brazen flirt to demure school girl, while Mohammed Khouas, in his debut as "Chimo," is captivating and heart breakingly believable, both in his early naive curiosity and in his later growing maturity.

The editing is terrific at matching their emotions, with tight close-ups when they are together, and encompassing mise en scene shots of their environments when they separate.

The music selections well match their different backgrounds and coming together.

This is an exhausting and exhilarating look at young love and life lessons.

Interesting film that has you shocked and sorry by the end

[noizyme · 7/10 · 29 June 2006]

Not to give too much away, but Lila Says is the story of a relationship between a man and a girl in a Arabian community in France. She is sexually aggressive towards one man, Chimo, in her neighborhood whom she sees as a better man than the other gangsters and men who hit on her. She starts baiting him with ideas of her sexuality in graphic detail to him. In every encounter with her, though, he cannot say the words which spring to his mind since he has never felt this way about a girl like her before. He is continually harassed by his friends to partake in good times with them, but he turns them down due to the newfound spark in his soul which is Lila. When the friends get sick of his head-over-heels-in-love attitude, they start to treat her like the sexually adventurous girl which she proclaimed to be (only to Chimo) and assault her, only to reveal a truly personal secret of hers all along...

I was dumbfounded by the end at how sad I was for her when all along I thought I had her pinned as the image she portrayed. From the beginning, when she says "Do you wanna see my p*ssy?", I thought, "OK, here we go. Another Skin-o-max French film about screwing around." But the real tie between Lila and Chimo is what keeps you watching this one. You feel the love that they share on some other plane and keep wondering about her aunt and their relationship and how Chimo is going to end up.

I would recommend it to anyone who likes deep relationship stories and movies. It has a charm about it like City of God or Lost in Translation. It also delves into a culture all its own in this Arab part of France. I love the real-life struggle that the police get from the Arab man in his car, and some comment about how he didn't blow up any buildings, or something to that effect...good social commentary from the other side of the spectrum for people here in the U.S.

I gave it a 7 star rating. Definitely above average twist yet pulls back from being an epic film by simply stating things which may be true without getting too out of control with meaning or existentialism or anything else. Very good, go rent it today.

ineffective

[RResende · 26 November 2008]

'Finding Forrester' meets Nabokov, meets Tornatore. The final product may superficially look 'Lucia y el Sexo', but it's quite a different game. And quite different souls playing.

I think in the end, this is a miscellaneous of different ideas, different paces, different dynamics, and it doesn't really work like was intended (at least like what i think was intended). It tries to work the coming of age of a young boy, the flower that grows in a swamp of marginals. He is a writer, this matters, ahead in the film, and he relates to a girl.

She is a Lolita, and in the end we come to understand that the boy writes the story she tells him (thus the name of the film). I'm starting to find a common device in films, which is the type in which we are hinted that the film we are watching is in fact the film or book that someone in that film is creating. 'Pepi, Luci...', 'Das Leben...'etc. one day i'll list them.

Vahina Giocante is part of the reason this failed for me. She is no Dominique Swain, or even Juliette Lewis. A part like this probably required someone like Jennifer Connely in her teen/early adult years. Giocante actually uses her eyes quite well, but not much more than that. This may be cultural, but she didn't work here for me.

There is a subplot about Muslim immigrants in France (the director belongs, i believe, to that context). I think it steps a little bit too much on that subject. Nothing against it, but you can make films about immigration and social frictions if you want ('La Haine', made by a french) but here it was supposed to work on the level of the innocent encounter, intimate revelations, boy meets girl and what comes out of that. The rest is useless to me.

The ending is quite powerful, indeed probably the most powerful bit of the film. That's probably because it uses the writing device i noted above to solve and finish the dramatic arc of the whole thing. The girl has a book where she collects pieces of magazines, photographs, newspapers, the material she uses to invent her sex centered life. The boy finds out all was an invention in the bed where she is rapped yes, but the bit where he relives her fantasies through the clip book was much more powerful to me. This makes partially up for the weaknesses and ineffectiveness of the rest of the film.

I think there was ambition here, the director is making his way (this is just his second film), but it failed to me. And i'm really pity it did, i came to this because i'm finding a life in films tackling films that depict women, and try to understand them, or give an interesting point of view on them (Medem is my master in this corner).

My opinion: 2/5 http://www.7eyes.wordpress.com

Lila should have her mouth washed out with strong soap

[Chris Knipp · 5/10 · 28 July 2005]

"Lila dit ça" is the filming by Lebanese director Doueiri of a somewhat sensational popular French novel set in Marseille. The anonymous author, Chimo, is the main character. An Arab youth with writing talent, he keeps a journal of his encounters with a young blonde provocatrice newly arrived in the neighborhood. He submits the journal for a writing scholarship and it gets him out of the ghetto. The movie shows us what the journal describes: his teasing, frustrating relationship with the blonde cutie.

The idea makes sense, but the execution goes wrong. Doueiri's first film, "West Beirut," which showed the youths of that war- torn, partitioned town struggling to grow up like kids anywhere else, was full of humor and charm. But Doueiri falters in this more structured adaptation set in France. From the first moments in "Lila Says" where the young Lolita teases nineteen-year-old Chimo by talking dirty, the scenes between the two principals are embarrassing and awkwardly paced. The photography is crude and poorly lit. Chimo's little gang of pals have zero appeal and are quite unworthy of both Chimo, who's as pretty as the girl and has far more class, or the director, whose Beirut characters seemed to have real backstories and depth. Vahine Giocante, who plays Lila, had a haunting debut as the fugitive girlfriend in Manuel Pradal's 1997 "Marie Baie des Anges." The trouble is this time she can't just rely on her Lolita body and ballet training to move around provocatively; she has dialogue. But is it her delivery, or the crude dirty talk itself that doesn't work? In either case, although it may have succeeded on the page, it seems leaden on the screen.

While the sensitive-looking Chimo (Mohammed Khouas) restrains himself, his pals don't, and it all ends badly and foster child Lila is taken away by her off-color female caretaker. Too late it dawns on Chimo that he could have saved the situation if he'd simply declared his love -- and perceived that Lila's four-letter words and porno stories came out of naïve fantasy. He's failed her and betrayed their fledgling love affair, but he's got his ticket out of the Arab quarter and the bus takes him away.

The scenes are rickety. It's a shame because the two principals are nice to look at and some of the sets are colorful. But the shock value of a very pretty young blonde who's opener is "Do you want to see my pussy?" has attracted more attention than this effort deserves.

As is mentioned in one scene, Arabs are all the rage now in France, in movies anyway, witness Benoît Jacquot's stylish recent love-on-the run noir tale, "À tout de suite." Doueiri ought to have been capable of much more than this stereotypical encounter. The worst part is that it's not even a turn-on.

Beautiful

[BrandtSponseller · 9/10 · 1 December 2005]

I'm not exactly the target audience for realist dramas or romance films. My tastes lean heavily towards fantasy, especially horror, the darker side of that broad genre. I tend to prefer stereotypical "guy" and adolescent films. But Lila Says is a beautiful, extremely well made film in many ways. I only subtracted one point because it is just a tad slow in a few sections; however, I can easily see revising my score to a 10 on subsequent viewings.

The story is set in an Arab ghetto outside of Paris. Chimo (Mohammed Khouas) has a talent for writing, but because it's not exactly what anyone expects of him, and seriously pursuing it would involve removing himself from the only world that he knows, he sweeps it under a rug more or less and spends most of his time with three somewhat brash friends. Suddenly, a beautiful French girl, Lila (Vahina Giocante), moves into the neighborhood with her foster mom. Chimo and his friends are all understandably taken with her, but she only pays attention to Chimo, in secret. Lila Says is the story of their growing but odd relationship, which despite Lila's increasingly outrageous stories and sexual comments and behavior, remains mostly platonic.

I've already mentioned that Giocante is beautiful, as is Khouas, as far as I can judge, but so is the setting and the cinematography. Lila says would be worth a watch for the latter alone. Chimo may live in a ghetto, but director of photography John Daly sure knows how to make gorgeous and attractive. Likewise, the songs and the score in the film are beautiful.

But most importantly, the story is very engaging. Director Ziad Doueiri is able to turn a film that is really mostly talking in a limited number of settings into something often as gripping as an adventure/thriller, with hints of both of those genres. Lila's behavior and stories are often surprising, and her relationship with Chimo is complex and realistic. The ending has something of a twist (two, actually) that makes the film more tragic, but at the same time, Lila is a catalyst that brings full realization to "true selves", whether that ends up being a triumph, as in the case of Chimo and his mother, or a disaster, as in the case of another character.

Lila Says Nothing

[kenjha · 2/10 · 29 December 2010]

A young woman moves into an Arab community in France and is drawn to a young man who dreams of becoming a writer. What does Lila say? Lila talks a lot, but she doesn't really say anything. Just about all she does is talk dirty to the Arab boy. She practically begs him to have at her, but he's too timid to make a move. It is not clear why the slutty, blonde-haired Lila has moved into the neighborhood when she's not Arabic. Her behavior is also unexplained. Why does she invite a stranger to peak under her dress? And what type of twisted relationship does she have with the aunt with whom she lives? There are no clues given because the filmmakers are clueless.

Lila Says it all.

[Nerveagent33 · 9/10 · 25 June 2005]

Truly LILA SAYS, says it all. There is so much to take in throughout this movie. From the beautiful camera work to the script which delivers a solid arsenal of sexual tension and brave dialog. Not since Jules and Jim has there been a movie like Lila Says that can cause separation in audience feeling and the characters. This movie succeeds in many ways, but seeing it it's English translation is worth it all. The writers, Mark Lawrence in particular, deserve to be congratulated in the writing of this script. From it's brave opening to the closure in the end, the movie keeps you wondering and worrying about precious LILA. Go see this movie while it is here.

Great movie, great acting, beautiful pictures! Exciting but nothing striking!

[anangaranga · 8/10 · 24 April 2005]

I had the chance to screen this movie in a Hungarian festival. A colleague of mine said a lot of good things of this movie so I eagerly wanted to see it. And as always I was ambushed due to someone's enthusiasm.

How to say... I expected something extremely staggering drama and what I got was a staggering drama but not extremely. From the first time Lila started talking about sex the whole story became obvious. And it got even more obvious when Chimo's friends were shown more and more.

In the first few minutes I got scared because there were some allusions to racism, especially the conflict between the Muslim and not Muslim due to the 11th of September 2001. But it stayed in the level of discussing how difficult is for arabesque to get a job. So it didn't turn out to be a political "horror". LUCKILY! So let's see... we have Chimo an arabesque 19-year-old boy who most of the time just hangs around with his 3 best friends. They steal, harass girls, drink, smoke, whatever a couple of hopeless, sort of outcast guys can do. Chimo is a bit different from them but still he calls them his best friends. And he writes. Novels. And apparently he is talented and gets the great chance to get out of this misery and go to Paris learning to be a writer. But he turns it down, he thinks that this huge L wearing on his forehead can't be removed. He thinks his fate is sealed by being an arabesque in France. And that's what his friends hammer in his brain too. They obviously don't want him to break out. They don't manage it either.

Then we have Lila, a beautiful blond girl with gorgeous blue eyes who lives with her weird aunt.

So they meet. While Chimo's friends are trying to pique Lila's attention, Lila and Chimo immediately become ... well ... sort of friends. As long as the definition of friendship bears some j***ing off on a moped or some exhibitionism, or talking about and strictly just talking about sex. But these things can make a relationship even more beautiful and unforgettable, can't they? So when they meet they talk a lot. More like Lila talks, especially about her juicy dreams and filthy reveries. She even shares verbally her experiences and sexually exalted, sometimes pervert ideas with Chimo which obviously drives him crazy. But perhaps this makes Chimo feel this stronger and stronger love. He doesn't want to hang around with his friends anymore, he works in order to pay the bills. He tries to change. But his friends are not fond of this metamorphosis, and they are getting more and more aggressive. The fact that Lila refuses their "overtures" and she is not even willing to speak with them is fuel to the fire. The bomb explodes...

Summa summarum the movie is good. Very good, but nothing surprising happens in it. Still it is a beautiful love movie. I liked a lot that Ziad Doueiri eliminated the physical parts of sex (apart from this ominous hand job, but that doesn't count) and he focused on verbalism, and emotions which gives the peculiarity of the movie.

The ending is sad and happy at the same time, I found it perfect. A destroyed first love but hope of a better life.

Oh ... the music is brilliant. I suspect that people already got used to the fact that most of the time in french movies the producers abuse them with french songs (which is not always bad, but sometimes quite annoying - sorry about that). This movie is an exceptional. Frankly saying it has a compelling soundtrack.

A gross, twisted take on the MPDG trope

[katserialkiller · 3/10 · 13 January 2019]

I would've given this movie 7/10 if not for the last 20 minutes.

Lila's story is horrible. She's clearly a troubled teenager in multiple ways, and the fate that she meets in this movie is terrible, and terribly out of place. The tone is ridiculously light, and her awful, life-altering, disgusting experience is used, in some twisted way, as a driver for character growth in the male lead. That, with no mention whatsoever of what she really went through and of what she became afterwards. This is the "manic pixie dream girl" trope, only more twisted and unsettling.

I loved this movie!!!!

[mrofar · 9/10 · 17 November 2005]

I had previously seen "West Beirut" (also directed and written by Ziad Doueiri) and I really liked it. It had a special meaning to me because I live in Lebanon (where the events of the movie take place) and I can really relate to the the story and the characters. I had never gotten around to watching "Lila Dit Ca" (But I had been wanting to for a long time) Anyways, today I watched it and I have to say: It is a GREAT movie!!!! The acting, the story, the directing... all superb!!! I really think that Vahina Giocante was perfect for this role. She did an excellent job of portraying the character. I am friends with Rami Doueiri (Ziad Doueiri's brother and one of the main character from West Beirut) and I honestly can't wait to get in touch with him and tell him just how much I loved this movie!!! I think Ziad Doueiri really deserves a big pat on the back for the great movies he is making!

I give this movie the 'Two thumbs up' !!!

Prurient waste of time

[euvertrue · 1/10 · 17 June 2005]

In its desperate attempt at sensuality, Doueiri's "Lila Says" fails to arouse and excite, and instead careens out of control in a churning, over-acted mess. Starting out as a coming-of-age tale about a young adult, Chimo, the movie shows some promise. That is, until Lila arrives, offering to show her 'chatte' to Chimo on the occasion of their first meeting. Lila is a poster child for childhood sexual abuse, angrily taunting her aunt with her genitals, weaving tales of fantastic encounters with devils, and doing her best to convince Chimo to join her homemade orgy/porn project-- all the while keeping actual sexual encounters at arm's (or in Chimo's case, hand's) length.

It's hard to see what Doueiri intends with Lila-- she never develops as a character, never becomes more compelling, and never inspires more than passing interest from the audience. Chimo's story is much more moving, but even that sputters out halfway through the film, around the time when we discover that he's been donating blood to keep himself in beer and cigarettes. So much for his plan to resist assimilation into French culture.

But really, it doesn't make any difference, because there's nothing and nobody to care about in this film. Even the tragedy that befalls Lila is disturbing and horrible, but never really heart-rending. There are at least a hundred kernels of ideas here that would make great movies: Marseille-as-hotbed of French-Arab tension, the struggles of a poor writer wannabe, the damage done by sexually predatory guardians, sons reliving their fathers' romantic mistakes, etc. It's just a shame that Douieri tried to tackle them all at once, and in the process, succeeded at almost nothing.

A terrific coming-of-age movie

[MOscarbradley · 8/10 · 13 May 2017]

This terrific little coming-of-age movie came out in 2004 and, despite a modicum of success on the festival circuit, seems to have disappeared without trace. It's the story of a handsome young Muslim teenage, Chimo. (Moa Khouas, excellent), and his infatuation with the beautiful blonde Lila, (Vahina Giocante, a natural). You could say it's very much a wish-fulfillment movie since Lila is the girl of every boy's dreams and is, apparently, up for grabs. The setting is the Arab quarter of Marseilles so there is a political element to the film, too, though the randy and ultimately violent youths on display could come from any city anywhere.

The Lebanese director, Ziad Doueiri, had already worked in Hollywood for Tarantino before returning to Europe where he made "West Beirut". This, his second film, really should have catapulted him into the big-time yet it was eight years before he directed again. Even if his career never really develops "Lila Says" will have earned him his footnote in film history.

There is no one truth

[Aleluya · 8/10 · 23 July 2005]

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?

a youth looking for his way in life

[addict_3u · 10/10 · 27 March 2006]

Why is it a 10 because its a movie that i think is realistic to a certain extent except for the exxageration at the end when the cop lets chimo call lila which would never would have happened given the storys elements, and we all know that chimo would be framed along with the other guys and the girl traumatized, Why do i say this because i believe that can be many of the realistic ways to look at the movie, I like it because its not just a puppy love nick cannon movie its more of a narration of how chimo feels when hes experiencing all these things with lila. I think the way that the audience adapts to chimo telling his story is extraordinary because the audience sympathizes mostly in the humanistic response that chimo has towards lila, minorities as myself can also reflect themselves especially in the story.

Men and women

[kosmasp · 9/10 · 20 June 2022]

Talk about toxic masculinity - and what is to be expected from women. I will go into some details and especially a horrible incident that is occuring towards the end of the movie. That is why I tagged the spoiler warning - so you have been warned more than enough.

Our main character seems to have a clear moral compass. One that works - but he is being influenced in a bad way by others. And by society and the expectations put upon men and women. We see him being under pressure by his male friends but also by his mother. Not easy to do the right thing under these circumstances.

Especially when this really hot and good looking woman comes to his life. She seems to know he is one of the good ones. And calling her teasing would be an understatement. But can't a woman be sexy - and still decide for herself when and with whom she wants to sleep? That is in the middle of all this.

All before the horrible "thing" happens I mentioned above. Calling it a thing - not a pun and not trying to be disrespectful. Raping someone is bad to say the least. And all because of the toxic masculinity - all because a woman can't be sexy without wanting it from everyone and always. Of course that is not true - and hopefuly you knew that before you watched this movie, but will come around after the latest ... because there is only one victim here. And there is no excuse for the bad guys in this ... try to be respectful, try to be nice to each other. And treat others the way you would want to be treated yourself. Also no means no.

8/10

[cosmin742000 · 8/10 · 27 April 2021]

A movie above my expectations. Don 't be confused by the tags the movie has nothing erotic .Only vocabulary is related to sex. And it's not happy ending , fact witch give it much valor.

She changed his life

[okpilak · 8/10 · 30 June 2023]

Of love and heartbreak. Chimo is living a poor life in a poor area in a city in France, unsure of himself, living with his mother who was abandoned by her husband and his father. So she is protective of him. He has friends who are real jerks, and he is Arab. Into the area comes Lila, who is Polish, a beautiful blond girl who begins to flirt with him. She is also very open talking about sex, which takes him off guard. Chimo has a talent for writing, and has a chance to study in Paris which is free, but he also is torn about Lila. They develop a bond, which then annoys his friends. Is Lila showing a deeper feeling to him, or is she playing him? And will Chimo try to develop his feeling better towards her, as he cannot seem to express them? It is a very nice film, very tender is spots. But also explicit in parts, especially language.