Abe A
Too many intertwined strands did this one in for me, and a not-wholly-compelling plotline with some wooden performances, particularly by Marc Michel. On the strength on this, I'd class Jacques Demy as a second-rank director behind the first tier of Godard, Truffaut and (possibly) Alain Resnais in the French New Wave, all of whom have a better grasp of form and structure.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
02/08/24
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s r
1001 movies to see before you die. An entertaining take on multiple couples / relationships based around Lola. A hint to the French new wave. Saw it on TCM.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
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Audience Member
Waiting for her first love's, Michel, return who's been gone for about seven years, Lola seems to have come to terms with the fact he's gone forever. it's just some sort of a desperate longing that would easily fade away hadn't been for lasting memories that one can't help recalling. In Jacques Demy's Nantes, poignancy of loss reigns supreme — whether it's of love or dreams or whatsoever — in spite of its breezy air. In Lola, there's also effortless interlacing between each character that cross paths with another, dredging up each other's long-forsaken memories and, more or less, rejuvenating them through mutual interactions. Having been introduced to the background of Roland Cassard here, I loved how Cherbourg continued his path while bolstering the circular nature of Lola. Aside from a silly plot diversion revolving around Frankie and fourteen-year-old Cécile, cabaret numbers tossed in for some reason and a few plodding moments as it's nearing its third act, Lola is a decent debut of unrequited love and disillusionment, injected with a sense of ennui and a spirit of carefree in equal measure, and featuring beautiful black-and-white wide shots, hand-held constantly-moving camera and light-weighted humour.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
02/07/23
Full Review
William L
I love the idea of a doting French single mother in 1961 hounding her teenage daughter to improve her conduct before letting her smoke at the dinner table.
Interesting to see a director so well-known for his use of vibrant color and musical spectacle take on a film that is visually more typical of French New Wave sensibilities - urban French street life in black and white - while keeping some of the lyricism that would become his hallmark. A tale of love and loyalty, Lola herself is a single mother left abandoned by the first love that she still has deep-rooted affection for, attempting to provide for herself and her child while navigating a pair of romantic entanglements that she keeps at arm's length. Demy's first feature is not as thematically hefty as other films made by his contemporaries, but does portray love in a distinctive way, as a combination of obsession, irrationality, opportunism, and practicality, and takes the added step of stucturing itself as a network of chance encounters rather than plodding, monotonous meet-ups.
Solid, but not my favorite from Demy by a long shot. I didn't realize that this film was intended to be a tribute to Ophuls and in particular his final work, Lola Montès, which I have not seen. Probably owe this film a rewatch once my familiarity with Ophuls' work is up to snuff. (3/5)
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
05/31/21
Full Review
Audience Member
France at the start of the 1960s, not Paris, but Nantes (to the Southwest). Is director Jacques Demy part of the New Wave? The film, shot by Godard's DP Raoul Coutard, does have the look, in glorious widescreen black and white. But Demy dedicated the film to Max Ophuls, master of the longshot in La Ronde (1950), Madame de (1953), and Lola Montes (1955; from which this film gets its name) - did he represent the "tradition of quality" that the New Wave was rebelling against? He was dead before they began (in 1957). Demy would soon direct the melancholic but glorious The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964), which had the actors sing all of the dialogue to the music of Michel Legrand (who also provides the score here in Demy's first film). So, Demy followed his own path (as did his wife, Agnes Varda; Cleo from 5 to 7, 1962) and so does this film. Although the film is titled for Anouk Aimée's cabaret dancer (very different from her sour wife in Fellini's 8 1/2, 1963), we seem to spend more time with Marc Michel who plays Roland Cassard, a bored and rather aimless young man who meets former childhood friend Lola by accident on the sidewalk and falls in love with her. However, Lola, a single mum pining for her boyfriend now gone for 7 years, is not interested in Roland nor anyone who might represent a serious commitment (she has a fling with an American sailor instead). A side-plot or two introduces characters who bear resemblances to the main duo and link with them (or others in the story), a feature that Demy also apparently included _across_ films where these characters may turn up later. Perhaps the plot goes nowhere - certainly this is the case for Cassard (but not for Lola herself) - but the idling is enjoyable, with a dance number and a potential crime enlivening things. Apart from the beautiful opening shot, I didn't register many Ophul styled long-shots (they may be there), but the film has an ease and grace that reminds one of the master...and simultaneously, the New Wave.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
02/04/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Made with such delicate love.
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
02/11/23
Full Review
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