Lila Says
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Movie Reviews of Lila Says
Movie Review: Very interesting
Summary: 5 Stars
The storyline is very interesting. starts out a little slow and may be discouraging to some but ends with a brilliant twist. it is beautifully shot and produced. a brilliant story about how one person can change your life or even put things into perspective.Movie Review: such a sweet love story! well worth the subtitles you have to read!
Summary: 5 Stars
i usually hate subtitles but this movie really drew me in, it made me want to be a teenager again! such a sweet love story, a tale of a boy and a girl who both live on the poor side of a french town. i have already watched it like 5 times!Movie Review: The End of Innocence
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a well done coming of age tale set in Marseille. Chimo, a French teenager of Magrebian descent, lives with his mother in a small apartment in a relatively poor neighborhood. He and his three companions (also of North African descent) do what most teenagers do; hang out, have fun, and don't really want to be bothered by anything that doesn't concern or interest them. Chimo has shown some writing ability in school, and has been invited to submit some samples to a university, but overall it is unclear where Chimo and his friends are going in life and if they will do anything productive. At one point they are involved in a petty burglary. Things take a dramatic turn when a blonde haired beauty (Lila) moves into the neighborhood with her aunt. Lila is obsessed with sex, and there is a mutual attraction between Lila and Chimo from the start. Unfortunately, the `leader' of Chimo's gang is also attracted to Lila, who couldn't possibly care any less about him. This story is partly a tale of a tragic love triangle, and partly a story of sexual awakening. Much of the dialogue between Chimo and Lila is sexual in nature (some very explicit and direct), but there is little nudity in this film. In the end though, this is a tale about the end of innocence, the often hard transformation to the realities of adulthood. Without giving too much of the story away, I thought that the message at the very end of the film was particularly well done. Things do not always turn out well in real life, but life goes on nonetheless.
This is definitely not one of the sickly-sweet, dumbed down romantic films put out by Hollywood for American audiences. One of the other reviewers stated that it was controversial when released in France. I don't know if this is true or not, but if you are looking for a film that is more complex and nuanced (edgy may be the right word to describe this film, and in some parts shocking) than the crap released by Hollywood, I would recommend this film. This film explores timeless themes: love, sexuality, and loss of innocence (i.e. the often harsh realities of growing up) in a fresh and unique manner.
Finally, I should mention that I originally (naively? foolishly?) thought this film would be about the relationship between the Arab immigrants and the native French in Marseille. There is a tendency to overemphasize the sexual overtones in the descriptions of foreign (particularly French) films when released in the US, and I had assumed that this was case for this film. The description of this film in the Plot Summary is largely accurate, and this film does not explore any French/Magreb immigrant issues.
Movie Review: A Ballet between Claustrophobia and Imagination
Summary: 4 Stars
For some reason, every movie that either shows some form of sexual activity or some amount of female flesh or has a character describing a sexual act is always marketed as "Erotic" in the USA. Queen Victoria would have sympathized, but really, let's grow up a little, shall we? Lila Dit Ca (Lila Says) is not by any stretch of the imagination an erotic movie but it is a poignant look at the awfully limited horizons that exist for a group of French arabs in a Marseilles ghetto. They have no education, no meaningful culture, no pursuits, no future, no imagination and no hope. The claustrophobia inherent in this existance is almost palpable, and is visually elaborated by shots of narrow streets and small rooms and cramped spaces wherever the characters roam.
Against this is set the expansive imagination of Lila, a teenage siren who is very aware of her charms and whose desire to escape the narrowness of her setting is expressed through modestly elaborate sexual fantasies which she tries out on Chimo, the only boy in the ghetto who possesses anything close to a functional mind. Unfortunately Chimo lacks Lila's self-awareness and consequently fails to take advantage of opportunities as they present themselves; yet his passiveness is actually what makes him a safe confidante for the young girl and his gentleness is what ultimately wins her heart. Chimo, however, believes her to be infinitely more experienced than he is and so he is unable to see her true feelings.
So the core of this film is a ballet between the crushing mindlessness of the arab boys Chimo regards as his friends, and the expansive possibilities embodied by Lila. When these two worlds come crashing together, it's Lila who pays the price. The film suggests that love will triumph, and that Chimo's redemption has been made possible by Lila's ordeal, but this was for me the least satisfying and least convincing part of the film. The rest is finely observed and the director gets the most out of his young and somewhat jejeune cast.
Movie Review: DANGEROUS EROTICISM
Summary: 4 Stars
Intoxicatingly erotic, LILA SAYS (Sony) is a terrific post 9/11 Romeo and Juliet story set in an Arab immigrant enclave of Marseilles.
Gorgeous Lila (Vahina Giocante )is a 16 year old, angelic-looking but clearly damaged, pouty, potty-mouthed Polish nymphet. The object of her bold verbal taunting ("Want to see my pussy?") is Chomo, a handsome, shy, 19 year old Arab boy.
These two attractive inner-city teens escalate their risky sex games in an edgy relationship of opposites until it ignites a wider, tragic response.
Beautifully photographed with exceptional young leads, this tension-filled, overtly sexual coming of age tale is arousing and unsettling.
And as volatile as today's headlines.