Product Description

*Nominated, Golden Bear - 1996 Berlin International Film Festival
*Nominated, Golden Spike - 1996 Valladolid International Film Festival

Set in 1967, A Summer in La Goulette examines a time when Muslims, Jews and Catholics lived together in harmony as neighbors. Youssef (a Muslim), Jojo (a Jew) and Giuseppe (a Catholic) are best of friends until each of their daughters swears to lose their virginity by a certain date. To make matters worse, each daughter sets her sights on a boy of a different religion, thus challenging an inviolable taboo and causing a rift between their fathers. As the families resolve their differences, the Six Day War breaks out in the Middle East, which will divide Jews and Arabs the world over.

In Arabic, French & Italian with English Subtitles.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #43943 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-01-22
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: Arabic
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 100 minutes

- Toronto Sun
"A Summer In La Goulette is a comic but loving celebration that works on many levels. It's a wonderfully animated and exuberant story about everyday life and friendship."

- Cameron Bailey, NOW Magazine
"Smart and sensuous."

- San Francisco International Film Festival
"A wonderfully sly comedy full of warmth, wit and an exuberant love of pleasure."

Customer Reviews

Slice of Life in a Religiously Diverse, Increasingly Middle Class Tunisia of 1967.
"A Summer in La Goulette" was directed by Ferid Boughedir in 1996 to capture the heterogeneous character of Tunisia in 1967. It's set in La Goulette, the port north of Tunis where tourists flock in the summer, seeking beaches and sea breezes. Three young women, best friends -Muslim Meriem (Sonia Mankai), Jewish Gigi (Sarah Pariente), and Sicilian Catholic Tina (Ava Cohen-Jonathan)- vow to loose their virginity before the summer is out. Their families live in the same apartment building, owned by the greedy Hadj (Gamil Ratib) who has eyes for Meriem. Their fathers -Youssef (Mustapha Adouani), Jojo (Guy Nataf), and Guiseppe (Ivo Salerno), respectively- are old friends. But the ladies' scandalous plans and choice of boyfriends causes a rift between the men.

The film captures working class Tunisian life and the pleasures of the Mediterranean summer at a particular time: after colonialism and before the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, after which most Tunisian Jews left the country. Tensions in the Middle East loom in the background, largely ignored by the population of La Goulette. The war begins just as the action of this film ends. And with it, a social era comes to an end. Ferid Boughedir captures Tunisian life during this period of liberalism and social change through the lens of a romantic comedy. "A Summer in La Goulette" is generally light-hearted and funny. But it brings to light the changing relationships between men and women, the hypocrisy of both the middle class and religious traditionalists, the perils of political ignorance, and the frivolity of it all. In French and Arabic with English subtitles.

Need to balance the negative review which has nothing to do with the movie itself
I didn't view a dvd of this movie purchased at Amazon, I only rented it, so my review has nothing to do with the quality of the dvd, which in my case was fine.

The movie is a delightful story as well as an interesting look at Tunisia in 1967, before the mass exodus of Jews from the country (as well as from Morocco). A comedy, yes, but it doesn't shy away from a harsher message. The filmmaker simply decided comedy was more revealing than a drama.

Great movie, flawed product!!!
I ordered this movie for my husband, and the first time it arrived, the disk was missing from the box. Instead was only a clear plastic "dummy" disk. I complained and was immediately sent another copy -- so far, so good. But when we got around to watching it, a critical scene was digitally scrambled and the entire movie would freeze there. We were busy and I couldn't return it at the time, and now it's past 30 days. We love the movie, but are unhappy that we still have a flawed copy, essentially unviewable!