ahmed-benali I first watched this movie when it came out in Morocco, and I just loved it ! I've watched it a couple of times since, in English, and each time it just gets better. Nabil really managed to wrap up a great quality movie that goes beyond its center topic : Belly Dance, he pictured the shock between occidental and oriental cultures in a soft implicit way. Not to mention that he made a belly dancing movie for a general public in a way that the audience gets to know all this fabulous world through Lola, who's American and obviously an outsider like the target audience of the movie. I also loved it because It's just bold, I mean it's basically one of the first Arabic films ever made about belly dancing, giving the fact that it's a pretty controversial matter in oriental/Muslim countries, not to mention Youssef, who's probably the first openly gay character ever portrayed in an Arabic made movie. I couldn't help but notice a lot of similarities between Egypt and Morocco in the movie, some of them were pretty obvious (especially the clothing) so I guess a lot of scenes were shot down here. Anyways, to sum things up, this definitely is a must-watch movie, it's fun, entertaining and well made, but I fell like it has been really underrated for what it really is, I'm afraid not enough people have seen it, and that is truly a shame, so please, go watch it, you will not be disappointed, I promise !

siderite It was an average dance film, complete with romance issues, challenges that must be overcome and applauding happy end, but I couldn't help feel that somewhere in all that clueless blonde smiling permanent intrusion in other people's affairs there was something offensive. I don't know how Egyptians are, but I doubt that they are closeted Americans waiting to get out and express themselves to the detriment of all around.The plot is that an aspiring New York dancer is pushed by circumstances to come to Egypt. She becomes the apprentice of a very good belly dancer and reaches tarab before the end of the movie.Bottom line: there are some interesting items of fact about the Arab culture, especially when involving women, but the point of view is so extremely American that it felt fake. The dancer was cute, but she didn't strike me as very good, nor was she a good actress. While the film could inspire some people that are passionate about dancing, it has very few other good parts.

ajackaln Whatever Lola wants is one of those happily ever after movies that you can find every now and then but what will make you follow the story is the beautiful Egyptian dance and music.I'm not going to take this movie very seriously since it was just very fun , casual and easy going Cinderella story and you surely will love if you are in your sweet sixteen , or even teenage years ,specially if you are a girl but older than that you may only enjoy the music more than the corny story which by the way was not even close to reality ! How on earth ONLY the talent can be enough for a blond girl to become a star in the world of SHOWBIZ in a country like Egypt where all the producers are men and crave for white blonds??? I rest my case !

olvillano Thank you Mr Nabil for such a delicious moment: you have offered us a movie I will agree fully to re-pay the entry when leaving the theater. This is not only a very good film on Dancing,and thanks again for the wonderful teaching, it is a movie about changing, taking risks of failure to learn something new and letting others change your life: I am talking of course about Ismahan mainly, a deep character with excellent interpretation by a woman I had never seen in films... It is also a movie on tolerance, on linking between cultures and countries. The art of dancing is a powerful tool for this purpose,as arts in general have been showing it in many movies and for a very long time (Les uns et les autres, by Claude Lelouch was one of them)I have kept the images within me for the last 3 days, with a smile in my mind. It is a shame that your movie can be seen only in so few theaters in Paris. I am sure people will enjoy seeing it on TV someday, and that your work will find its real reward then. Thank you again.