I've watched this movie maybe a dozen times since I first saw it at age 14 while visiting family abroad subjected to the late hour journeys of a first time jet lag experiencer. I was enthralled. As a sexually obsessed but inexperienced outside of exploitation (which is distinct from an act of consensual sex) the film allowed for a contestation with desire and self-becoming in a way that I hadn't imagined yet. And with all that said I had little to say about the film then. I would rewatch the film with friends and child-hood and college lovers and receive similar responses along the way amounting to disinterest and distaste. I was told the film is crude and exploitative, that is was shallow and sex obsessed. Much like many of the reviews posted on this site of the film, folk didn't see much going in the film past a run of the mill coming of age romance. I've written at length about the responses to the film and my infatuation. It's not a cinematic revolution but it compiles number of dialectics in a critical post-nine-eleven world that still have yet to be thought critically in the year 2023: how has the desire to instill order in a world so consumed with terror effected how the youth exist? While many remark the film to be crude, there are little to no displays of sexual acts between the two lead characters. Instead the discuss the bounds and possibilities of intimacy and their existence. We experience Chimo attempting to make sense of existence or possible non-existence, and we see, through Chimo's eyes, the world inflict violence upon the two incessantly. Past a tale of Romeo and Juliet, Lila Dit Ca tells of a relation in which being is not assured and existence is precarious; a world in which sexual aggression is painted as a path to determination and the lingering of speculation is encircled as criminal. Lila Dit Ca is a film about becoming that refuses an ascendency to becoming; we're left not knowing what is to become of either Lila or Chimo. At the end of the film all the audience knows is that they will not become together due to the violent actions of the world they live in. Chimo decides to tell us what Lila said and ultimately it's a story of a world that betrayed her, Lila, to which Chimo felt incapable of aiding because he too was unsure if he even existed.

Lila Says [Ziad Doueiri, 2005, France] Anything involving cross-culture captures my attention intently. 6/10

A very well scripted film. Others have said it all here...

Saw this on late night and was disappointed. You can talk all you want, but if nothing is gonna happen, then I am on my way. You know what I mean?

I found the story interesting, but I have seen better movies on the thme.

Very cool style and excellent writing. Good music, too!

nice strange romantic movie

Compelling themes of minority life in the slums of Paris and pressure on Muslim-Arabs against interracial dating are trumped too heavily by the lolita sex fantasy centralized by the screenwriter.

amazing piece of work. One of my favorite foreign films I actually own.

Words cannot describe how I feel about this movie. I cannot believe I am 23 and haven't seen this movie until now

Wow, a sexed up version of The Usual Suspects. I was going to watch a documentary but they seemed boring, so a romantic comedy seemed in order (but I don't like watching real movies on my laptop), so I went foreign in the "steamy romance" category. Like many other foreign films, it rises to a nice level of sensuality and emotion with basically no actual nudity. Bravo! It's French, so the language helps set the mood as a new girl in the neighborhood becomes a tease of sort to a local Arab boy. She uses raw language, and I was ready to count this as a strike against the movie...over selling the sex and all that, until the ending suggests what it was really all about. A scene near the start is the most sexual and enticing of the entire movie. She is riding a moped in a short skirt, evidently with nothing underneath, and gives him a ride. This is the only slight nudity scene, but it's well-done and that one scene, if done consistently through the movie, would have been gold. Throughout, this girl tells stories of her sexual endeavors. They are believable when she wants them to be. She is obviously damaged by the death of her parents and her pedophilic (is that a word?) aunt, so it is not unreasonable to believe her stories, especially given her forward behavior toward the boy. Won't spoil it for anyone, but turns out to be a pretty solid drama. The steamy romance thing never really lived up to its billing and I think I wish it would have. The lead actress was quite attractive. Still, though many movies can pull that off and still be serious, I think it would have damaged this one. The story really plays itself out in a nice fashion and makes for a dramatic finish.

Dramatical love story including the stunningly beautiful Lila and the gentle Arab boy. Lila is a very mysterious girl and she is always acting like a big tease, talking about sex with Chimo all the time even if Chimo just listen and rearly keep the conversation going. Lila have some great quotes and use some great metaphores so you can understand Chimo at this point I guess - it's lovely just to sit and listen to her. The story is cool and realistic in a way, the performances and cinematography is also wonderful. The close-up shots of Laila and her lovely eyes make you fall in love with her. It made me think "God, please exist in the real world". The ending wraps things up pretty good, leaving it open but it's also serving you a great little twist. A very good flick that deserves a watch. Especially if you're a young man or maybe you even should give it a go and watch it with a fresh flirt of yours.

I was looking forward to see Vahina Giocante in another movie after seing her in 99 Francs. I thought that she was chosen to play this role, only because she had a great physic, but I was wrong she really can grab those few feelings and pass them along to you. Mohammed Khouas who played Chimo was well in his shoes, he gave the right image of the lost and borred teen who doesn't have anything exciting in his life untill Lila comes in his life and rock his world. Great movie, it's really worth watching it.

Una rubia precoz y fantasiosa le cambia la vida a un chico de origen árabe que no espera mucho de la vida. Muy buena.

Realistic, dramatic without loss of intrigue. Scenes and details quite familiar. Cinematagraphy amazing. The POV shots lingered at times but with such lovely faces to gaze at this is not in any way a complaint.

All style & no story or substance, in the European film tradition. This "coming-of-age" story goes nowhere. SPOILER ALERT. Mohammed Khouas, as Chimo, gives a credible performance. His romantic interest, Lila, played by Vahina Giacante, is attractive & gives an OK performance. But, there isnt much to the story. This girl talks up sex as a tease, in a wholly unbelivable way (there is a kernal of truth here). Altho, she does jerk off Chimo on their 2nd meeting ... strange ... becuz neither of them goes back to that activity later on. She lives w/ an aunt (parents apparently deceased) who likes to look at her pussy ... strange ... & very unlikely. Almost nothing happens in this entire film. Not in the main story, nor among any supporting characters. A very unsatisfying film. Dont bother.

Despite any description anywhere to the contrary, there is no NR Region 1 flavor of the film. Sony fogged and/or clipped all visual sexual content in order to distribute a film well inside the R rating. A 19 year-old Marseilles man (Khouas) idles away life in his Arab banlieue (ie, ghetto) with three pals who are more natural at being low-life hoodlums than he. His French teacher asks him to submit a novella to gain admittance to a writer's school in Paris, but he declines, as it is easier for "a loser to stay with losers." However Paris won't be denied - and it immediately arrives in the form of Lila (Giacante), a gorgeous 16 year-old blonde Lolita. Giacante's no small talker when it comes to her sexual persona, making her every young man's dream come true - and a dream that compels Khouas to steal a notebook and start a diary. Each meeting with Lila reveals to Khouas yet another, more prurient layer of Giacante's desires and experiences. As Khouas slowly becomes ever more enraptured and consumed by his Parisian Muse, Giacante also becomes the cause of a widening rift between Khouas and the street life that is the only world he has ever known. The viewer's patience is rewarded as, slowly, what Giacante is really truly saying to Khouas - and how she is saying it - is revealed. In this film, the plot's the thing; the acting is not terribly impressive. Aside from his voiceover narration, Khouas delivers the viewer mostly silence and emotionless expression. While Giacante is a sultry and captivating vision to behold, she plays her role more as the model than the actor. Recommended foremost on the strength of its crafted writing.

Lila Says is a French erotic coming-of-age story. It portrays the relationship between a young Arab man named Chimo and a beautiful young French woman named Lila. Chimo is a 19 year old without much direction. He lives with his mother in an apartment. His father left his mother for a French woman, and his mother is yet to really move on from this loss. Lila is an orphan who lives with an Aunt. She stands out in the predominantly Arab neighborhood because she is both beautiful and white. Chimo's buddies oggle her as she walks by, and they all desire her sexually. However, Lila pays them no mind, treats them as if they don't exist, save for Chimo. For some reason, she senses something in Chimo, and Chimo and Lila engage in a steamy friendship that is largely propelled by Lila's blunt discussion of her sexual fantasies. Sex is the primary theme of this film. Unfortunately, it is also about the only theme. The conflict between Arab and French culture is only mildly expressed, although it feels like it wants to be more of a factor than it really is. The main conflict of the film is. . .not really much. You watch a seemingly promiscuous young woman and a somewhat naive young man's friendship grow, and the only real conflicts exist on an ancillary level, only briefly coming front and center. Lila has a few issues she is confronted with, but her character is so strong that she never endures any struggle. Chimo, the point of view character, endures some struggle with his friends over his relationship to Lila. The majority of the film seems to be spent wondering if and when Lila and Chimo are going to have sex. The film is a tease. While I'm not all that wild about this film, I will concede the sexual tension is very well done, which is important, because this is the film's circulatory system, it's what gives it life. The role of Lila is a somewhat daring one, and the girl playing her embodies the erotic nature of Lila with confidence and conviction. The film might appeal more to males or lesbians because of its intense expression of female sexuality. Basically, if you're not turned on by this girl's performance then you're going to be extremely bored (so let's hope you like blondes). However, the guy who plays Chimo is very handsome, so there is a bit of eye candy for female viewers. There are some beautiful moments in the film, but they are infrequent. The story is a bit muddled, and I was left with several unanswered questions, forcing me to make assumptions which may or may not be correct, and it's not like I was trying to solve a crime, I just wanted to know more about these characters. Personally, I think the narrative technique of using Chimo as the point of view character was a mistake. It seemed to me that the character of Lila was far more interesting. However, since we are not invited to stand in her shoes, we don't get to experience what she experiences. Instead, we stand in Chimo's shoes, and basically all he wants is Lila so it makes for rather dull suspense since there is not much at stake. He either gets the girl or he doesn't. But Lila has a few interesting side-stories that are only lightly touched on, once again, because we see them through Chimo's eyes. Of course, if the film was told through Lila's point of view, then we wouldn't have all the steamy eroticism of her character to stare at, but this probably wouldn't be a bad thing. Themes of sex can be interesting, but can also get old fast. This film doesn't suck. I was entertained. But this film will not stay with me. It had little to no resonance. Maybe it just wasn't for me. I would not deem it a must-see, and I would not recommend it to many of my friends.

Phenomenal soundtrack.

good story of a teenage girl who has erotic fantasies and shares them with a young guy she admires. the young guy has jealous friends which complicate the matter. good french movie