Raja (2004)

Synopsis: Raja is an orphan. She has been through the worst. She doesn't believe that life can suddenly get better. If she's only going to get by, she'd prefer to earn an "honest" living. Fred is a... Raja is an orphan. She has been through the worst. She doesn't believe that life can suddenly get better. If she's only going to get by, she'd prefer to earn an "honest" living. Fred is a Westerner. Emotionally, he's a busted flush. When he meets her, replanting the grass in his garden, he takes an instant liking to her. He just wants to seduce her. "Sex and no commitment.” It shouldn't be difficult. Raja senses that he only wants to have a little fun with her and that he'll drop her soon after. She's been there too often before. Yet there's something about him that makes her want to believe in him. Unwittingly, she has such an effect on him that he hires her to work in the house. But as she stubbornly refuses to give herself to him, Fred begins to think that she is taking him for a ride, that all she wants is a husband and a visa to make something of her life. As neither speaks the other's language, the misunderstanding between them becomes ingrained. She is fired, revolts and goes back to the boyfriend she had been neglecting but who is at least able to share in her poverty. Fred is desperate and loses himself in the fear of losing her while Raja can no longer bear not seeing him. He re-hires her and, in a moment of panic, comes up with the idea of her marrying her boyfriend, whom he hires as a driver, so as not to lose her. She feels definitively humiliated and convinces herself that she can expect nothing more from him. Money, misunderstood feelings and quarrels play their part… For her, nothing has changed. For him, there is the certainty of having screwed everything up. And the possibility of suffering and, perhaps, of loving again. -- © Film Movement [More]

Starring: Pascal Greggory, Najat Benssallem, Ilham Abdelwahed, Hassan Khissal

Starring: Pascal Greggory, Najat Benssallem, Ilham Abdelwahed, Hassan Khissal, Fatiha Khoulaki, Ahmed Akensouss

Director: Jacques Doillon

Director: Jacques Doillon
Screenwriter: Jacques Doillon
Composer: Philippe Sarde
Producer: Margaret Menegoz, Souad Lamriki, Benedicte Bellocq
Studio: Film Movement

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