The French film Lola (1961) was written and directed by the great Jacques Demy. It stars Anouk Aimée as Lola. Lola is referred to as a "dancer" or cabaret singer, but she isn't exactly that. She works in a dance hall, where sailors go to dance with the young women who work there. It's never clear to me whether prostitution is involved. Yes--Lola will let a sailor share her bed on occasion, but I don't think money changed hands.
Two men are in love with Lola, although it's never clear whether this is love or lust. Meanwhile, Lola has spent seven years waiting for her true love to appear. She's raising their son while she waits.
There's a subplot about a somewhat older woman, who is a widow raising her adolescent daughter. Madame Desnoyers is played by Elina Labourdette. Her daughter Cécile is portrayed by Annie Duperoux. Labourdette was a well-known French star. However, as far as I can tell, this was the only movie in which Duperoux appeared. (That's too bad, because she was a good actress.)
Many women in the movie are waiting for a man or the right man, or both. I found this tedious and, frankly, boring. Wait, wait, wait. Hope, hope, hope. Sigh, sigh, sigh.
Director Demy loved to direct beautiful women as his stars. Besides Aimée, he directed Catherine Deneuve, Françoise Dorléac, Dominique Sanda, Danielle Darrieux, and Jeanne Moreau. OK--they are all delightful to look at, but does the quality of Demy's films match the physical beauty of his stars?
In my opinion, sometimes yes, sometimes no. In this case, it would be no. However, I'm in the minority here, because Lola carries a very strong IMDb rating of 7.6. I didn't think it was that good--I gave it a 7.
Two men are in love with Lola, although it's never clear whether this is love or lust. Meanwhile, Lola has spent seven years waiting for her true love to appear. She's raising their son while she waits.
There's a subplot about a somewhat older woman, who is a widow raising her adolescent daughter. Madame Desnoyers is played by Elina Labourdette. Her daughter Cécile is portrayed by Annie Duperoux. Labourdette was a well-known French star. However, as far as I can tell, this was the only movie in which Duperoux appeared. (That's too bad, because she was a good actress.)
Many women in the movie are waiting for a man or the right man, or both. I found this tedious and, frankly, boring. Wait, wait, wait. Hope, hope, hope. Sigh, sigh, sigh.
Director Demy loved to direct beautiful women as his stars. Besides Aimée, he directed Catherine Deneuve, Françoise Dorléac, Dominique Sanda, Danielle Darrieux, and Jeanne Moreau. OK--they are all delightful to look at, but does the quality of Demy's films match the physical beauty of his stars?
In my opinion, sometimes yes, sometimes no. In this case, it would be no. However, I'm in the minority here, because Lola carries a very strong IMDb rating of 7.6. I didn't think it was that good--I gave it a 7.