What was Goucem(Lubna Azabal) thinking? Goucem and Fifi(Nadia Kaci) probably have an open door policy, being close gal pals and all, but when Goucem steals a gun from one of Fifi's johns, her presence in Fifi's apartment becomes a matter of breaking and entering. When Fifi turns up missing, Goucem goes dancing. And when she turns up dead, "Viva Laldjerie" never makes clear if Goucem feels directly responsible for her friend's death. She's a smart girl. On some level, she must've understood that there'd be ramifications when you lift a man's gun. Goucem killed Fifi. The question remains: Was it intentional? The tears that Goucem sheds at the ID'ing of Fifi's body must be remorse, but the film is missing that moment of explicit recognition that her actions had a direct correlation with Fifi's disappearance. Does Goucem share her mother's abhorrence for hookers? That would be hypocritical on Goucem's part since she's an adulterer, and mom, an exotic dancer. In "Viva Laldjerie", Islamic fundamentalism is coming to Algeria. In the upcoming years, it's going to be harder and harder to be a woman; harder still, if you have a friend like Goucem, whose hijab(Muslim head dress) must be so tight, all the blood was drained out of her head. That hijab doesn't flatter any woman, especially Papicha(Biyouna), Goucem's mother, who transforms herself back into a sensuous woman, an incarnation of yesteryear, when she was a dancer at a night club and her hair flowed unencumbered by ideology.
The tragedy of Fifi's death is the obviousness of the situation that these, and all women, face in a country whose rules were composed by men. The ladies should stick together, one for all, and all for one. But Goucem is a slave to love. Maybe she stole the gun in order to shoot her lover. Whatever the reason, Fifi is in a box.
The tragedy of Fifi's death is the obviousness of the situation that these, and all women, face in a country whose rules were composed by men. The ladies should stick together, one for all, and all for one. But Goucem is a slave to love. Maybe she stole the gun in order to shoot her lover. Whatever the reason, Fifi is in a box.