Ziad Doueiri's "Lila Says" (2004)

[Chris Knipp]

Ziad Doueiri: Lila Says (Lila dit ça)

Lila should have her mouth washed out with strong soap

Review by Chris Knipp

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.

[pmw]

Thanks for the review Chris. I have been waiting around since West Beiruit to see what Douieri would do next. Thought he had dropped off the face of the earth. He's a talented guy, but sounds like this one is not up to snuff.
P

[Chris Knipp]

I also see talent and hope for better next time.

[arsaib4]

The film has gotten less than average reviews in France but the response has been more positive here. The previews I saw of it on TV5 looked a little risqué, but I guess you seem to be saying that Doueiri didn't follow through; I'm hoping that you didn't give away too much in your review.

[oscar jubis]

Lila Says is not as good as West Beirut but I found both Lila and Chimo extremely likable. The movie seems slight and inconsequential for a while but gathers momentum, leading to a devastating finale in which the audience becomes implicated in misconceiving who Lila is because of what Lila Says.
Here's a brief post about Lila Says after a screening at the MIFF.

[Chris Knipp]

I don't think there's much to discuss. After West Beirut this is a disappointment, but after all, West Beirut wasn't a masterpiece. It just had charm and specific observation. Doueri is at one remove from his material here, and the "devastating" climax or whatever it is you call it, is a miscalculation, not devastating simply disappointing. The "surprise" about Lila isn't one. There was no reason to believe her boasts were true. The fact that the actors are appealing only points up what a waste this was. I see youi called it "the moving, wrenching conclusion." YOu might want to reconsider your choicer of words there? It sounds like puffery. The material itself sounds dubious, from the short reviews I read; I haven't read the actual book.

[oscar jubis]

It's not just the actors who are appealing, it's the characters they inhabit. And Doueri's camera work is quite accomplished. And Giocante manages to covey a free spiritedness that hides a damaged psyche, confounding us and Chimo. And it's also possible to regard the characters as representational (for instance, Chimo as an average Arab unsure as to how to react to Western influences) thus allowing for a reading of the material that comments on larger cultural and political issues of current import. You bring up reviews so, to set the record straight, they're not uniformly positive although enthusiastic ones can be found in the NY Times, Chicago Reader, S.F. Chronicle, LA Weekly, and other publications. Lila Says is not great, not a "must-see". It's a good movie and I recommend it.

[Chris Knipp]

And it's also possible to regard the characters as representational (for instance, Chimo as an average Arab unsure as to how to react to Western influences) thus allowing for a reading of the material that comments on larger cultural and political issues of current import.

That's very well argued; a flaw in this outlook is that the book and the movie could be quite offensive to Arabs because of the content, which is designed to titillate and leads away from the Arab character toward the blonde European girl. Hence this idea, for me, is quite a stretch. The book is sensationalistic. It sold well. I'm less sure that it's particuarly typical of anything and from what I've read the style and outlook are rather dubious. Doueiri has made something appealing of it, but I find the girl over the top. I'm still going to maintain that your remarks could mislead since (I must repeat) for anyone who saw West Beirut this is a disappointment.

I know he's a cameraman, but the cinematography isn't particularly successful and some of the closeups are bad.

I'm not going to go through all the available reviews. I trust my own judgment on this. For a French film I like to see the Allociné summary of French critiques and reactions. The public reaction was pretty good, but the critics not so good, one 4-star, four 3-stars, twelve 2-stars, four 1-stars. That's very mediocre.

Perhaps the tastelessless of the language eluded you since you don't know French. It did not elude the French. The melodrama ending some felt, ruined the piece. Many critics were unimpressed by the "mise-en-scène." Same here.

Since most people don't go to or see as many movies as we do I personally would disrecommend it. But not as strongly as I'd disrecommmend the dreadful and unpleasant Ma Mère. Of this summer's import French films the top honor goes to The Beat That My Heart Skipped by a wide margin; À tout de suite next quite a bit down, then this a good space further down, then Ma Mère way, way down in the abyss of pseudo-profound Euro-trash sleaze.

[arsaib4]

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.


I agree. Lila Says was quite disappointing, especially in the sense that the characters, the dialogue, the milieu seemed artificial. The bar where the boys hung out, or the nearly empty streets just didn’t profess any realism (yes, the "mise-en-scène"). Vahine Giocante is not as "angelic" anymore, certainly not the way she was in Marie Baie des Anges. There were some tender moments between the protagonists, but Chimo’s voice-over was intrusive and didn't always jibe with his character. The film is also not nearly as provocative as it thinks it is.

[Chris Knipp]

It's a dud. To be avoided. Marie Baie des Anges is partly a homage to Demy's Lola I now realize. And a magical re-mythicizing of Cote d'Azur youth. I love it. Lila Says not only isn't as sexy as it thinks; it's a turnoff. Its problem I think is'nt lack of "realism," but lack of skill. It's clumsy. But otherwise I completely agree with your description.