Lola is Jacques Demy's first feature, and it's the story Mr. Bland Roland Cassard sings about in The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. For fans of the latter film, it unlocks a number of small mysteries. The shopping plaza that stands as his only memory is from this film, for example, and we find out how he got into the diamond business. His theme in Umbrellas is also his theme in Lola. Marc Michel plays the part sans mustachio, and he seems destined to help young girls in stores and charm their mothers. The first part of Demy's trilogy is a prequel to the next film, but works best in the way images, lines and characters resonate with it. It is not a musical (though Lola has a song), but rather has the same Hollywood romanticism, filled with melodramatic coincidences, American sailors on leave, and other tropes from the Golden Age of Hollywood. And yet the concerns are very much those of post-War France - listless youth, single mothers, loss and a need to recapture something - and the Americanisms are essentially part of that. I loved decoding my beloved Umbrellas through this film, but it stands on its own, wonderfully shot, and laced with pathos and humor.
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Siskoid
Lola is Jacques Demy's first feature, and it's the story Mr. Bland Roland Cassard sings about in The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. For fans of the latter film, it unlocks a number of small mysteries. The shopping plaza that stands as his only memory is from this film, for example, and we find out how he got into the diamond business. His theme in Umbrellas is also his theme in Lola. Marc Michel plays the part sans mustachio, and he seems destined to help young girls in stores and charm their mothers. The first part of Demy's trilogy is a prequel to the next film, but works best in the way images, lines and characters resonate with it. It is not a musical (though Lola has a song), but rather has the same Hollywood romanticism, filled with melodramatic coincidences, American sailors on leave, and other tropes from the Golden Age of Hollywood. And yet the concerns are very much those of post-War France - listless youth, single mothers, loss and a need to recapture something - and the Americanisms are essentially part of that. I loved decoding my beloved Umbrellas through this film, but it stands on its own, wonderfully shot, and laced with pathos and humor.thirdman
I love Demy.SO. MUCH.
johnnyg
Wonderful! What a sleeper classic!nicolaskrizan
demy's best?http://1001movies.posterous.com/1079