Review of Lola (1961) by Matthew S — 27 Jul 2015

Jacques Demy's directorial debut fits exactly what I've always heard: This is a stylish musical without music. Anouk Aimee's performance is iconic. The story is more "gritty" than one might expect from a movie filmed in 1960.

This is a study of unrequited love inspired by both Max Ophuls and Josef Von Sternberg's Blue Angel character. In many ways it seems like Demy is making fun of the concept of "romantic movies" as much as he seems entranced by the idea of them.

I'm thrilled that Criterion was able to secure this re-storation monitored by Demy's widow and fellow filmmaker, Agnès Varda. It was a joy to watch. The problematic aspect of Criterion's release is this is a part of six disc set.

I own it, but I got it for free --- and am really only interested in 3 of his films. This is not one of them.