The director and writer of Raja is the son of French film icon Jane Birkin. OK. The plot. Fred is loaded and lives alone in a house with two old cooks in Morocco. That is all we know about him. No friends. No family. Nothing. One day he gives a bunch of local girls a job in his garden. They all have been problem girls. Raja was a hooker because she was an orphan. Her brother is her pimp. Fred gets hot for Raja who does not get hot for Fred. Raja has a boyfriend. Raja does not speak French, which is unusual for young Moroccans. I have been. I know. And Fred speaks zero Moroccan, which is also unusual. From the state of the garden Fred has been there quite a while. That's it. Fred, by the way, does not know Raja was a hooker when he gets hot for her. This happens later. So the great day comes. His lust is satisfied and while both talk to each other in languages the other does not understand, it all goes horribly wrong. Pascal Greggory does his best to give credibility to Fred and I give him full marks for effort. But Fred is not credible. Nor is the story. I have seldom seen a film as pointless. I wonder what Jane Birkin thinks?

Two thousand kilometers from Marrakesh of Morocco to Paris France but two different worlds that will not enable communication and bridging the gap. Sad and though Fred holds some hope, the spectator can not share this hope. Seems authentic, very good performance of the actors, I agree with the person that said that some of the figures do not seem to be actors but act themselves (the house maids). Whatever seems at the beginning to be a perversion, understood later as a desperate struggle for emotional survival and reason for existence. In this sense the swimming pool is a good metaphor. I find this film to be a refined, touchy, moving, beautiful film. One of a kind.

I knew that I had seen the main actor in another movie, but was not able to place it until I looked at his resume on IMDb - Pascal Greggory - and the movie - Gabrielle. Gabrielle was a typical French affair - drawn out, painfully introspective where you wanted the characters to do something, rather than pontificate in a tedious fashion. This did not bode well for a film with the same actor. He was egotistical, arrogant and abused his position of wealth. His actions were confusing, why did he want Youseff and Raja to marry to escape the policeman from Casablanca, but yet still wanted her to sleep with him. The explanation of converting the house to a hotel - with Youseff and Raja as running it - seemed absurd. I could not understand his actions and despised the character. He was juvenile and destructive in his actions and the story offered little to no character development. I want to clarify my above comment about French cinema because there are many excellent French films, e.g. La Haine, Amelie, City of Lost Children, Delicatessen, A Self-Made Hero, etc.

This movie is too drawn out. Also for a French movie it is quite disappointing since there is no nudity, etc. The main actress who played Raja is also not even average looking (I really don't want to use the U word but it would not have been inaccurate). For Frederick to fall for her, he must have been really hard up especially considering there are many other local girls a rich man like him can certainly have.The movie tries to portray Frederick as being lonely but still have plenty of libido. If that's the case he should visit the local nightclubs, etc. I am sure he can certainly find many more attractive young locals there.If you want to watch a "Old man, Young woman" film, there are many better ones. Try American Beauty, Carried Away, Twilight of Love, etc.