Lola - (Mr Bongo Films) (1961) [DVD]

Lola is a beautiful French film that has a level of sophistication that one rarely sees in cinema. This story falls into the categories of drama and romance, but it has a magical quantity to it that truly makes it special. Its magic is sure to charm you.

The movie revolves around a cabaret dancer named Cecile, who is better known by her stage name Lola. A couple of guys express some interest in her, but they are not quite what she is looking for. An American sailor named Frankie enjoys spending time with her, but he is very casual about their relationship. Lola also happens to bump into her childhood friend named Roland. They knew each other before the war (WWII) and he is more than a little eager to be with her. Finding out which way her heart will go is all part of the fun (and there is more to the story than just this). Both Roland and Frankie meet a young girl and her mother. There are some parallels between Lola and the young girl. The symmetry between them is unmistakable.

At first glance it may seem that the story is a bit chaotic, as there is so much going on. But at the story progresses, one sees that the characters of the story move like a tango. With the departure of one, sees the arrival of another. Nearly every detail and character is important to the story.

Lola is Jacques Demy's first feature film. Although there are about two-dozen films called "Lola," this 1961 classic is original and unforgettable. It is a delightful film that is sure to appeal to those who enjoy world cinema.

In Jacques Demy's film we have the subtle suggestion of easy virtue, without the accompanying sleaze. Lola wants love and a good time - and Demy makes us feel that she is fully entitled to that. This is a beautiful restoration and the quality of the transfer and the beauty of Anouk Aimee makes this a worthy DVD purchase.

Knowing only one other Jacques Demy film, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, it is interesting to see how Demy can take a potentially tragic tale and transform it into something that is immensely watchable without being sentimental or judgemental.Here in Lola, he doesn't have saturated colours or sung dialogue; just a well-observed story and a superb cast.

The cover image gives some idea of the beauty of this film, and of its delicacy. Lola is an amazing creation by Anouk Aimee in the title role; she is by turns frothy, charming, scatty, a caring mother, as fragile as a doe and as lovely, and resilient too. A little like in The Philadelphia Story or Les Enfants du Paradis, or Rohmer's A Winter's Tale, the heroine is caught between three men, but one of them is out of reach, and he is the only one she really wants. However he has returned and she keeps having near misses while thinking he is still on the other side of the world ... The film opens up beyond this, however, in the form of a subplot in which we see a young girl fall for one of the unhappy two and experience a first infatuation with this sailor exactly as Lola had done for the man on whom everything now depends still. We get a sense of repetition and the working of fate that is incredibly touching, it is so lightly held. In this way it is exactly in the image of the heroine. The whole thing is devastatingly romantic and the subtle reflections multiply and make it even more exquisite. It is shot in widescreen and gives a very atmospheric evocation of Nantes with its covered arcade, to which Jacques Demy would return in later films ... the soundtrack features Beethoven's 7th symphony in a stroke of genius that provides a granite-like sense of destiny alongside the fabulous delicacy of the plot and its fascinating heroine. Frankie also provides a freewheeling blond charm as the sailor, set against the bookish, existential angst of the other suitor. The real thing, driving around in a white suit and car, makes you wonder if you wouldn't have gone for Frankie if you'd been her, but subjectivity is at the heart of passion and the film makes us realise this too.