Lola (1961)

Directed by: Jacques Demy | 90 minutes | drama, romance | Actors: Anouk Aimée, Marc Michel, Jacques Harden, Alan Scott, Elina Labourdette, Margo Lion, Annie, Duperoux, Catherine Lutz, Corinne Marchand, Yvette Anziani, Dorothée Blank, Isabelle Lunghini, Annick Noël, Ginette Valton, Anne Zamire

‘Lola’ is the debut film of director Jacques Demy. He dedicated the film to the German film director Max Ophüls. In this French film noir – where the interpersonal – is central, the viewer can enjoy convincing acting by Anouk Aimée (Lola) and Marc Michel (Roland), who make ‘ordinary’ people great in this film.

‘Lola’ is set on the atmospheric Atlantic coast of France, in the town of Nantes. The film zooms in on the special link that different people can have with each other. Placing an adult protagonist with an important character from his youth is an interesting fact. Lola underlines the particularity that early childhood sweethearts often occupy in your later life. Something many people will agree with. And so Jacques Demy had an excellent hand on his first film.

Partly because of the human aspect of the film, ‘Lola’ is timeless. This 1961 film actually shows that the world can change greatly, but that people’s search for happiness still essentially remains the same. Just like love, this remains an up-to-date topic. In ‘Lola’ this is carefully worked out and interpreted in a calm and peaceful manner. In addition to the deeper layer, there is also enough room for entertaining romance that is often bittersweet. Lola’s unintended plus point is the clarity and innocence of the decades in which the film was released. The characters come out really well against this setting. What is special about ‘Lola’ is the fact that Jacques Demy has immediately established his style with this debut film. The films that followed often have the same technical and visual characteristics, with ‘calm’ and ‘quiet’ as the most important indications. With his films, Demy was one of the important filmmakers who introduced the so-called French New Wave (La Nouvelle Vague). This way of making film contrasts with the clichés that are characteristic of classic Hollywood productions. A clear deposition of the French film industry against the American one.

‘Lola’ is a wonderful film, which you can easily lose yourself in even years after its release date. It is not for nothing that the film was restored in 2000. Ready to entertain new generations of movie viewers.