Lila Says

REVIEW
From the moment the eponymous character asks the stunned Chimo if he’d like to “see her pussy,” Lila Says establishes its tone as a playfully edgy and flirtatious treatise on the tenuous cultural boundaries between the French and their growing Arab immigrant population. That aforementioned proposition takes place between Lila, a coquettish blonde 16-year-old (vividly incarnated by the dazzling Vahina Giocante), and Chimo (the equally attractive Mohammed Khouas), an Arab youth who is desperate to escape the boundaries of his tight-knit Marseille Muslim community and join the Franco-cosmopolitan world. On top of that, Chimo is at the height of his pubescence and eager to take Lila up on her offer. This encounter instigates a hesitant but sincere courtship that places Chimo at loggerheads with his street buds, from whom he keeps the affair a closely guarded secret — for good reason, as we soon find out. Lebanese director Ziad Doueiri — whose previous film, West Beyrouth, received numerous accolades — delivers a briskly paced love story that breaches the cultural divide with both good humor and genuine tenderness. He also punctuates his film with a fantastic soundtrack, featuring a series of hip hop-inspired French Arabic pop tunes that will send world music lovers racing to iTunes after the screening. (French with English subtitles)