Lola (1962)

I like Black Panther, but I didn't like this movie.

Good start, but then it gets ruined

an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

This movie is dedicated to Max Ophüls but the actual movie itself feels more like a Fellini. It's kind of like a random slice of life and the style of film-making is focused toward its storytelling, rather than its technical aspects.The movie its look actually feels kind of guerrilla-style like, as if some sequences simply got shot on the spot, without a setup. No, I don't say this as a negative aspect but it just makes this movie look less slick than usual these type of genre movies tend to do. This has probably got to do with the movie it's low budget. It after all was only Jacques Demy's first full length movie. It at the same time makes "Lola" unique in its sort and it works out refreshing. But having said that; the movie still does feature some beautifully set up sequences, that are great to look at.But above all things, the movie thrives on its story. Not that is has some terribly complex writing in it but it has the sort of writing that is being more humble and close to life. It's about real people, in real situations, who are all in one way or another involved with the good old subject of love. It's a boy(s) meet girl(s) sort of story, as simple as that, that yet is being complicated by its clever writing style. The movie features different story lines, following different characters but yet somehow the movie manages to feel like one big whole. The stories aren't really necessarily connected (they could had easily sticked to 2 main characters and 1 main plot line) but yet they are, through its themes and settings. It's some great storytelling, that lets things all come together and keeps the movie great and interesting to watch throughout.It's simplistic movie-making at its best. The story and characters are all humble ones, which does not only give the movie a realistic feel to it but also a real warm one, especially if you're in a romantic kind of mood.A more than successful and great debut from Jacques Demy.8/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Lola, a beautiful chanteuse working in Nantes, is a kind soul. The love of her life, Michel, abandoned her seven years ago. In the cabaret where she works attracts a lot of foreign sailors. Among the ones we meet, Frankie, is clearly one of Lola's favorites. This young man loves her in his own way and he her little son, Yvon.Roland Cassard, is a young man also from Nantes. It appears working for a living doesn't appeal to him too much. One day, while strolling in town, Roland sees Lola, who he hasn't seen in the years after the war. Lola, who had loved Roland, brings him up to date about what has happened to her in those years.Jacques Demy's lovely account of Lola and Roland in his beloved city, also includes an elegant woman, Mme. Desnoyers and her daughter Cecile, who interact with both Roland and Frankie in this evocative story set in the Nantes where Mr. Demy celebrated in most of his films. It's a fitting tribute by the film maker to a city that he loved as it comes alive in this beautiful film. He was blessed with the magnificent black and white cinematography of Raoul Coutard, one of the best in France. Michel Legrand, who contributed the music score, gives a hint to another Jacques Demy film that will follow "Lola" in three years: "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg". In fact, there are parallels in "Lola" that can be seen in "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg", in the figures of Mme. Desnoyers and Roland Cassard. Only Cassard made it to the other film.Anouk Aime, one of France's loveliest actresses of all times, is seen as Lola. She does a marvelous job with this woman who has been cheated out of her happiness, but who doesn't have a mean bone in her body. Marc Michel is also effective as Roland Cassard. Allan Scott is brilliant at Frankie, another kind soul that gravitated, and loves Lola, even though he can't have her. Elina Labourdette makes the elegant Mme. Desnoyers come alive and the gorgeous Annie Duperoux does an excellent job with her Cecile."Lola" is a wonderful film that shows the great Jacques Demy at his best!

By all means, let's give Raoul Coutard's stunning natural- light b&w scope photography a 10; the word "sublime" is not out of place for his work here. And the music of Legrand deserves a 7, perhaps. But Demy's script and direction?--not more than a 3. Godard combined his own talents with those of Coutard and Legrand to create a masterpiece, VIVRE SA VIE; but without Coutard and Legrand, Demy's film would be nothing. I recalled this as a striking visual treat from a 1964 viewing, but otherwise drew a blank. Now, seeing it again, it's easy to understand why. What else is there to remember? Demy's characters are colorless and shallow. The story is aimless and lazily structured. There's none of the bite of Ophuls (to whom the film is dedicated). And the slow motion sequence is derivative and embarrassing.One of the most annoying aspects of the film is the apparent total post-recorded dialogue. The dialogue has the same flat studio tonality whether the characters are indoors or outdoors, and there's an almost total absence of sound other than dialogue and music (probably an intentional effect, but not a successful one).If this is an "escapist" film, it fails. True escapist fare must create a world and characters more beguiling than our own; but I couldn't wait to get back to the real world.

Jacques Demy's first feature is a totally unreal confection, a real movie-movie about characters living their lives in dreams and fantasies, all derived from the movies. It's a pure escapist film, shot on location in Nantes with Raoul Coutard's most dazzling black-and-white cinematography. Every character in the movie is tinged with magic, sometimes explicitly, as when Lola (Anouk Aimee) is photographed so that she's wreathed in light, or when Cecile (Annie Duperoux) has her outing at the fair and it's shown in slow motion. It's a deliberately "silly" movie, and that's what's charming about it.