Product Description

This is a story of old and young in Algeria told through a mother and daughter hiding out in a hotel from local terrorists. We follow pretty Goucem (Lubna Azabal), 27, through the urban landscape of modern-day Algiers as she attempts to assert her own version of a liberated lifestyle. She battles daily with the conflict of a new Algiers; pitting traditional life against the rapidly modernizing city. Goucem is contrasted by her more traditional mother, Papicha played by Biyouna who is an ex-singer longing for her cabaret and for an Algeria of days gone by. Fifi (Nadia Kaci), the women's neighbor at the hotel, adds more color to this story as an energetic prostitute who keeps herself busy with wealthy men twenty- four hours a day.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #81365 in DVD
• Published on: 2004
• Released on: 2005-01-01
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
• Original language: Arabic, French
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 113 minutes

Customer Reviews

The struggle between what we are versus what we would like to become
The film examines the lives of three women, largely outcasts from society, living in Algeria after the civil war of the mid-1990s. Each of the women, through a combination of bad luck and poor choices, live on the fringe of Algerian society. The main character Goucem (played by Lubna Azabal) is a 27 year old women who works in a photoshop by day and cruises around the clubs at night. She has had a string of come-and-gone lovers and is now considered too old (and too `well traveled') to settle down with a respectable man. Her mother was once a famous singer whose star has long since faded, and now the two of them live together in a small apartment. The rent is paid by a doctor who is having an affair with Goucem. The doctor is married (to a harpy), but refuses to divorce her and is in fact having affairs with many other women beside Goucem. The third women, Fifi, is a prostitute living in the same building. This is a story about the past, the present, and the future. All three women examine where they came from, what they are, and what they would like to be. Fifi is the least unhappy with her life, and accepts her role as an outcast, Goucem wants something steady and secure, but isn't sure what, and Goucem's mother (Papicha) wants to become a star again. The backdrop for the film is post-civil war Algeria, and the clash of the past (represented in part by Islamic fundamentalism) with the uncertain future weighs over the entire film. I found this to be a compelling, well acted, thoughtful film that explores some timeless themes. Lubna Azabal in particular gives a nuanced performance, I suspect that we'll be seeing alot more in the future (I wish Hollywood would hire actress that could act!). This is not a film `about' Algeria in any substantiative sense, with small changes this film could have been set anywhere in the world (i.e. replace Islamic fundamentalists with Christian Evangelicals), so if you are looking for an `Algerian' film, this is not a great choice. A well done, if not uniquely outstanding, film and definitely worth a look.

Great Film Except for the Storytelling Part...
Recently, I watched several films dealing with the issues of the Middle East and North Africa, among them Le Grand Voyage, Rachida, Daughter of Keltoum, The Willow Tree, The Syrian Bride, each one is very different. Viva Laldjerie is not the best but probably the most modern and ambitious of them all. It is exquisitely made, you can see the hand of a master at work. There is a lot going on in terms of details and themes. Goucem (Lubna Azabal) is a lovely woman, and so are many others in he movie. There is a great deal of eroticism in spite of very little nudity. The acting is top-notch, which is not always the case in Middle-Eastern films.

Even then, the film is almost painful to watch. In other similar films dealing with women's issues, victimhood is an undeniable fact of life. In Viva Laldjerie, however, I can't help but conclude that in spite of the social problems around her, Goucem is utimately responsible for her situation. She is reckless and flaky. She always makes poor choices. She dated a married doctor for three years, expecting him to leave his family. At the same time, she engaged in a promiscuous lifestyle (the scene of men staring at her and her staring back at them while having sex with another in a public restroom is very powerful). Almost to the very end, even when the doctor kept lying to her, Goucem was in denial of his true intentions. And then, I wonder why she set up her prostitute friend Fifi to be murdered. She is clearly upset at the loss of Fifi but has no remorse and does not accept responsibility for what she did. Maybe it is just another in a long series of bad judgements and thoughtless acts.

The film deserves high marks for its artistic merit, but it is my opinion that, unlike others I have watched, it does not advance women's causes in the Middle East. It appears that the film's intent is a deliberate portrayal of single women as incapable of leading an examined life.