''Leïla'' is a 2001 Danish film directed by

Gabriel Axel Axel Gabriel Erik Mørch better known as Gabriel Axel (18 April 1918 – 9 February 2014)Ronald Berganbr>Obituary: Gabriel Axel ''The Guardian'', 10 February 2014 was a Danish film director, actor, writer and producer, best known for ''Babe ...

Plot

A young Danish guy, Nils, is visiting Morocco, where he meets the 16-year-old Berber girl Leïla. It marks the beginning of a great, all-encompassing passion. Leïla must defy her family to be with Nils, and their love has big consequences.

Cast

Mélanie Doutey Mélanie Doutey is a French actress. Life and career She is the daughter of filmmaker Alain Doutey and actress Arielle Séménoff. She appeared in Claude Chabrol's ''La Fleur du Mal'' and ''El Lobo'', the true story of a mole within the Basque ...

as Leïla *

Arnaud Binard Arnaud Binard (born 18 January 1971 in Bordeaux) is a French actor and producer mainly known for his roles in many romantic or detective television hit-series broadcast throughout the French-speaking world such as ''Sous Le Soleil'' (1998-1999 ...

as Nils * Malika El-Omari as Moona * Azeddine Bouayad as Brahim *

Michel Bouquet Michel Bouquet (6 November 1925 – 13 April 2022) was a French stage and film actor. He appeared in more than 100 films from 1947 to 2020. He won the Best Actor European Film Award for ''Toto the Hero'' in 1991 and two Best Actor Césars for ...

- narrator *

Mitch Bateman Mitch is a short form of the masculine given name Mitchell. It is also sometimes a nickname, usually for a person with the surname Mitchell. It may refer to: People * Mitch Altman (born 1956), hacker and inventor * Mitch Apau (born 1990), Dut ...

as party goer * Christian E. Christiansen as Nils' friend no. 2 * as Nils' friend no. 1 (uncredited)

Reception

The film was met with very negative reviews and was a

box office bomb A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...

. Swedish

film critic Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, magazines and other popular mass-media outl ...

in ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote "Pic feels tepid and devoid of emotional involvement. Due to the use of v.o., the two leads never get a real chance to convey their characters' emotions."

References

External links

* * 2001 films Danish drama films 2000s French-language films Films set in Morocco Films directed by Gabriel Axel {{Denmark-film-stub