Lola - Anouk Aimée’s cabaret singer beguiles in Jacques Demy’s “musical without music”

By Jason Best
( What's on TV )
published

Lola - Raymond Cauchetier’s iconic photo of Anouk Aimée in Jacques Demy’s classic film

Stunning in black lace and top hat, Anouk Aimée caught my eye at La Nouvelle Vague, the recent exhibition at the James Hyman Gallery celebrating French cinema’s New Wave.

Photographer Raymond Cauchetier’s shot is iconic, but the film it comes from – Jacques Demy’s 1961 debut movie Lola – hasn’t been at all easy to see.

Lola - Anouk Aimée plays a cabaret singer in Jacques Demy’s classic film

Now, however, Demy’s bittersweet “musical without music”, the tale of a lovelorn Nantes cabaret singer, gets its first-ever DVD release courtesy of Mr Bongo Films.

Which gives us a chance to enjoy the many delights of Demy’s bittersweet “musical without music”, from Michel Legrand’s enchanting score to Raoul Coutard’s lustrous widescreen photography – and, of course, the beguiling performance of Anouk Aimée herself.

Lola is released on DVD on 6th September.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msLhGKMT5tc&fs=1

Jason Best
Jason Best

A film critic for over 25 years, Jason admits the job can occasionally be glamorous – sitting on a film festival jury in Portugal; hanging out with Baz Luhrmann at the Chateau Marmont; chatting with Sigourney Weaver about The Archers – but he mostly spends his time in darkened rooms watching films. He’s also written theatre and opera reviews, two guide books on Rome, and competed in a race for Yachting World, whose great wheeze it was to send a seasick film critic to write about his time on the ocean waves. But Jason is happiest on dry land with a classic screwball comedy or Hitchcock thriller.