Lola (1961)

Director:

Jacques Demy

Writer:

Jacques Demy (writer)

Release Date:

14 October 1962 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

In Nantes, a bored young man named Roland is letting life pass him by when he has a chance meeting with a woman he knew in his teens: she's Lola...

Plot Keywords:

Dancer | Nantes | Harbor | Widow | Cabaret

Awards:

Nominated for 2 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 1 win

Cast

Anouk Aimée	...	Lola (Cécile)
Marc Michel	...	Roland Cassard
Jacques Harden	...	Michel
Alan Scott	...	Frankie
Elina Labourdette	...	Madame Desnoyers
Margo Lion	...	Jeanne, Michel's Mother
Annie Duperoux	...	Cécile Desnoyers (as Annie Dupéroux)
Catherine Lutz	...	Claire, the bar owner
Corinne Marchand	...	Daisy
Yvette Anziani	...	Madame Frédérique
Dorothée Blank	...	Dolly
Isabelle Lunghini	...	Nelly
Annick Noël	...	Ellen
Ginette Valton	...	Beauty Shop Owner
Anne Zamire	...	Maggie

Also Known As:

Donna di vita (Italy)

Runtime:

USA:90 min

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

French | English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Finland:K-16 | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Nantes, Loire-Atlantique, France

Company:

Rome Paris Films

Trivia:

Jacques Demy's first film is a tribute to Max Ophuls.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Une femme est une femme (1961)

Soundtrack:

Concerto pour flûte en ré majeur

Marvelous juxtaposition of harsh reality and lyricism

This film, which sets up many of the story lines and themes that are taken up in "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg," is as charming and seductive as the latter, even in black and white and without the musical numbers. In fact, the black and white is quite spectacular--the camera loves Anouk Aimée in particular--and the film seems as if it is going to turn into a musical at almost every moment. While watching the film, one thrills to see the first statement of director Demy's beautiful and poignant cinematic universe. "Lola" is at once a splendid homage to the classic Hollywood film, and at the same time, through its expression of complex, mostly tragic themes, and quotidian--if not ugly--realities, something much more intriguing than a conventional film romance. Yet, such harshness is tempered, even transformed, by the dreamscape of cinema, both in what is depicted on-screen as well as through the characters' own processes of dreaming. You needn't resist the temptation to call it sublime.