Lola Review

Demy's first feature is a haunting, bitter-sweet love story set in the coastal town of Nantes. A tribute to director Max Ophüls, it centres around the intertwining lives of the town's inhabitants, principally Roland (Michel), an out-of-work dreamer who whiles his time away discussing life with the local café owners, and fragile, childlike nightclub dancer Lola (Aimee) — all legs and eyeliner — who dreams and waits for the return of the lover who deserted her when she became pregnant. Both leads are, in fact, classic New Wave stars — he thinks too much, she wears too much makeup — although Demy's style is far less self-consciously modern than, say, Godard, and therefore much easier on the eye.