Word: lola
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...heroine of Lola Montes (1955), Ophuls' last and greatest film, has stopped--yet she continues to live, by force of memory and will in an artistic creation. Hired at the end of her life by the Mammoth Circus, she is alternately forced and persuaded by its ringmaster to recall and re-enact her infamous exploits. With no more hope for love, she moves brokenly through the flashbacks and circus skits which recreate her life...
...incredible curving tracks which open Lola Montes establish first the ringmaster, then Lola at the center of the CinemaScope frame. While he walks around and pulls the camera after him, she is carried into the ring and set down in long shot--isolated in the frame and imprisoned by the camera sweeping around her. Ophuls' cutting in closer to her body, rather than tracking in (a surprising thing to do in CinemaScope, which is better adapted to long takes than to quick cutting), emphasizes her staticity, her closeness to death. But the camera motions, which express the glamor vital...
...ignite you spinal chord. Miss Thompson is, quite simply, the best musical comedienne Cambridge could ever hope to have. From the first time I saw her (as a stripper in Gypsy, looking something like an eight-foot tall slutty butterfly), I knew this girl could do no wrong. As Lola, the sexiest witch of all time, she grabs more laughs than anyone (including no doubt the authors), ever knew existed in the role. Even here dancing has a certain humorous, self-mocking quality...
...Lola Minifie...
Demy does in fact use the back streets and alleys of Los Angeles to maximum tacky effect. His characters, however, have far less meaning than the "Eats" and "Service" signs. Although many of the same people recur in each of his films -Lola, for example, was both the subject and the title of his first feature-they have about as much depth as wallpaper. Indeed, Demy uses his characters like wallpaper, merely as human interior decoration. Anouk Aimee is lovely and gracious as Lola, but her seductive simplicity is too hard-edged for Demy's blurry art nouveau. Dressed...