Last night I enjoyed a movie from Algeria. The film, called Viva Laldjerie, centered on an attractive woman who lives in a neighborhood that is becoming more and more fundamentalist. She has a doctor client/boyfriend whom she spends time with but who won’t leave his wife, but the central theme is the contrast between ‘decadent’ and muslim.
Goucem, the woman, lives with her mother who used to be a great beauty, and still has the moves to prove it. She dances in a lithe and sexy way and the lovely Algerian music sweeps you up as her hips move to the beat. The older woman yearns for her glory days, and hears that a favorite club “the Casablanca” is being converted into a mosque. Quelle horreur! She rallies and turns the place back into a decadant place in which woman can dance to charm men. The men dance with each other and in front of the women, and the city of Algiers looks inviting and green.
I’ve never met anyone who has been to Algeria, but this film made me want to go and find out more. This north African country is very hard to get a visa for, but looks tempting, and undiscovered.
Related posts:
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Well, I’m from Algeria actually. It’s true that the country has become more religious over the years. In the 70’s, for instance, the number of veiled girls in Algeria was much, much lower than it is now. Still, Algiers can be a somewhat metropolitan town if you visit the right places. The French did leave behind beautiful architecture. It’s great seeing foreigners take an interest in our country, and you are always welcome to visit!
i have been to algeria and there are beautiful areas but the women are even more so and the dancing hypmotising but a man will find it hard to see this as the women have thier own private society