Lila dit ça

"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.

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.

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.

"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.

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.