Jalla (2000)

Cross Cultural Fun

Jalla! is a light and intelligently funny Swedish-Arabic film written and directed by Josef Fares, a Lebanese filmmaker who moved to Sweden as a child. An earnest comedy about love, friendship, warring cultures, and sexual impotence, this feeble romantic comedy celebrates the fun union of cultures, while touching on cross-cultural and sexual issues with a naturalistic tone. It is a comedy that deals with relationships, sex, and marriages. "Jalla! Jalla!" reflects a cultural conundrum that rolls out the story like a playful comedy of errors. It employs carefully utilized comic devices behind its deeper shades of sadness, longing, and self-realization. It is happily glossed over as a light comedy with a particular flair in buoying the story with subtle points about cultures and relationships.