Un'estate alla Goulette

Un ete a la goulette is a storie about three fathers of three daughters who are each of a different religion (muslim, Christian and a Jewish). The fathers are struggling to maintain their daughters virginity. However the daughters are young and want to explore their sexuality. This is all set in a small tunisian coastal town in the sixties. The ambiance is very nostalgic (old men playing cards in the local bar). There is also an erotic flavour to it especially when an old rich man falls in love with one of the daughters. The movie is pleasant to watch and very stylish. I gave it eight stars

This film wistfully evokes the memories of a bygone time and place in a seaside quarter of French Tunisia. For a brief period after World War II the population of French Jews, Italian Christians and Arab muslims appeared to coexist in a cohesive society that had formed over a hundred years. In this setting 3 young female friends (one from each aforementioned segment of society) make a pact to "lose it" by the end of the summer. However, on the eve of Tunisian Independence from France and the ramifications of living in a Muslim Arab country as opposed to a secular "Western" colony, each citizen is forced to look at the reality of their place in society. The film goes out of its way to show that everyone is the same deep down; that there are basic needs, desires and short-comings that define all humans. This, coupled with the fact that the citizenry seem to describe La Goulette as "paradise" (it was far from it...I know this first hand) simply make this film come off as the fanciful reminiscing of an old man talking about a "lost time and place" which actually never existed. Mediocre acting, but great cinematography.

Un été à La Goulette. Political tensions in the Middle East are the backdrop. During the Summer of 1966. La Goulette, a tourist beach town in Tunisia, near Carthage, North Africa is the locale. Tunisia is now independent of France, the arabs have taken control but other religions remain and are tolerated. The background to the film is the pending Arab-Israeli War, although this is not actually mentioned until the end of the film, and the political tensions begin to mix with the sexual tensions. Three nice seventeen-year-old village girls: Gigi, Sicilian and catholic; Meriem, Tunisian Muslim and Arab; Tina, French and Jewish. They would like to have their first sexual experience during that summer, challenging their families. Their fathers, Youssef, Jojo and Giuseppe, are old friends and their friendship will be in crisis because of the girls, while Hadj, an old rich & horny Arab, would like to marry Meriem. When the girls meet three boys of mixed religions the respective girls fathers come to blows and start to question their so far cordial religious Tolerances. A nice piece of cinema that includes moments of farce, pathos and comedy behind a serious undertone. The village idiot owns the only modern transistor radio that can pick up Radio Beirut. He keeps the villagers informed of the situation whilst they continue listening to their old valve radios of local news whilst playing cards, drinking and talking of times past. The cast is wonderful - largely unknown amateurs with a few old hands. It works very well and has a feelgood factor very similar to such films as Cous Cous.

It would be difficult making this film set in the current century.

Well worth seeing.

This is an idyllic image of the possibility for Peace in the world. Filmed on location in La Goulette, Tunisia, a beach resort in northern Africa, the movie tells the simple story of a summer in 1967 just before the Arab - Israel War. There are three families of different religions living side-by-side in an apartment house. The men are close friends and so are their sixteen year old daughters. It looks like the local Tunisians played many of the minor roles, and the characters and situations breathe a life of peaceful coexistence in a place that all agree is Paradise on Earth. One family is planning the wedding of their older daughter. The bachelor elderly landlord is infatuated with one of the daughters. The three teens decide to lose their virginity before the summer is out and seduce three local boys of different religious backgrounds. Claudia Cardinale, a Tunisian-born actress, makes a cameo appearance. All in all, a lovely slice-of-life film which takes the viewer to a simpler time and place when there was hope for Peace and the biggest problems were romance.

"A Summer In La Goulette" provides a rare cinematic look into Tunisian culture; in fact, it seems to capture the soul of Tunisia. Do not expect much "plot", this falls more into the "slice-of-life" category, switching its focus among a variety of characters; if Robert Altman was Tunisian, he might have made something like this. It contains marvellous music, and some of the most beautiful women you will ever see (including native Claudia Cardinale, in her mid-50s, in a small appearance as "herself"). Perhaps the most fascinating thing about it is the cultural and language blend - people are not ony multi-lingual, but constantly go from French to Arabic to Italian, sometimes within the same sentence! *** out of 4.