Lola, das Mädchen aus dem Hafen (1961)

Lola, das Mädchen aus dem Hafen: Directed by Jacques Demy. With Anouk Aimée, Marc Michel, Jacques Harden, Alan Scott. A bored young man meets with his former girlfriend, now a cabaret dancer and single mother, and soon finds himself falling back in love with her.

“Jacques Demyu0026#39;s effervescent romance is one of the best and most enduring examples of the stylistic explosion since called the French New Wave, but compared to Resnaisu0026#39; often-tortured exposition and Godardu0026#39;s turgid socio-political cul-de-sacs this playful look at the mysteries of first love is alive with an almost irresistible vitality. Demy pursues with tongue-in-cheek determination the idea that life can be a series of happy accidents, weaving several interlocked plot threads into a delicate web of chance and coincidence to illustrate the casual symmetry of life and love. At the heart of the film is a young cabaret dancer waiting (against reason) for her American sailor to return, whose sometimes sad, sometimes comic story is oddly echoed in the lives of everyone around her. Itu0026#39;s as if the world were an endless progression of dancers and sailors, destined to mingle and mix in a never-ending attempt to rekindle that first, unforgettable spark of passion.”