O Segredo Íntimo de Lola

People who know Demy's work will notice the connection between "Lola" "les parapluies de Cherbourg" and "model shop":the first and the third feature Lola ,both played by Anouk Aimée ,and the first and the second one feature Roland ,Lola's unfortunate lover.They will notice how Gary Lockwood ,who plays the male lead in "model shop" resembles Marc Michel,the FRench actor who plays Roland.In "les parapluies de Cherbourg" ,Lola is a memory,and we can hear Roland talk about her to Deneuve's mother.And,how strange,in "model shop",Lola opens her photo album and she begins to recall people from the past,actually the characters of "lola":Michel,the gambler whom she married ,and Frankie ,the marine who died in the war since.Unwarranted nohow:Lockwood's character is to leave for Vietnam very soon.... as Deneuve's fiancé was fighting in Algeria in "les parapluies de Cherbourg".The phone call between Lockwood and his father reveals a lot about the late sixties zeitgeist .

That said,"model shop" is not among Demy's best and might put off a lot of viewers because it's more "nouvelle vague" than any of this director's works.The first thirty minutes are sometimes boring and it's difficult to feel Demy's touch .There was something magic in the towns of Nantes and Cherbourg ,which does not operate here except maybe during the cast and credits ,where the American town seems terribly depressing .The characters are not as interesting as in "Lola" or "les parapluies" and sometimes seem like relics from a long gone past (eg the hippies,Spirit pop group).The movie really takes off during the Aimée/lockwood scenes but they are few and far between.

"Model shop" was a commercial fiasco .I remember that when it was released it only stayed one week in the movie theater where it was shown in my town.I did not see it at the time.So I had to wait 24 years to catch it on one of its very rare TV broadcastings.Afterwards ,Demy made "Peau d'Ane " (Donkey Skin) and it was a return to former glories. I will recommend "model shop " to Demy's fans but Demy's fans only.

This is a terrific document of late 1960s Los Angeles. Lots of street scenes from the beach to the hills, and traffic to die for - if only we had to compete with that number of cars these days.

Anouk Aimée is the big star, with big hair and French insouciance, but Gary Lockwood is the real beauty here. Shame about his wooden acting, though his character is going to Vietnam to die, so perhaps he can be forgiven for the lack of emotion, and he has some cool 1960s friends to sponge from.

This is 1960s euro-nihilism in America, and while it doesn't hit the heights of great cinema, it's a cool reflection of the times.

The icon in the "SHOP" window should be activated by now, since Sundazed has finally released Spirit's wonderful, long-lost soundtrack music...really the only reason "Model Shop" is remembered at all. In fairness, Demy's film does provide many tasty images of late-'60s L.A., with nice views from Sunset Plaza -- but, as groovy '60s L.A. movies go, Demy is no John Boorman and "Model Shop" is not exactly "Point Blank." The zonkoid lead performances of Anouk Aimee and Gary Lockwood don't do much to pique one's interest either. But hey, so little footage (if any) of the original Spirit lineup exists that their brief scene alone makes watching worthwhile. So pick up the CD and long live Randy California!

It's always interesting to see a foriegner's view of America (i.e. Antonioni's ZABRISKE POINT, Malle's ATLANTIC CITY), and here, French director Demy's look at 60's L.A.. Looking back in hindsight, it's easy to pick out the details and even cliches that Demy found so fascinating (fashion, car culture, seemingly endless stretches of buildings & lights, psychedelic music (SPIRIT), drugs, underground newspapers, counterculture ideals and, inevitably, the Vietnam War).

The nominal plot is more just a day in the life (almost exactly 24 hours) of a layabout disaffected wannabe architect (Lockwood) who is in a loveless relationship with a pretty but insubstantial young thing (Hay), who meets a mysterious French woman (Aimee). Not much "happens", but the themes and details enumerated above all weave their way into this portrait of a "day in the life."

Unfortunately, Demy selected the dull Lockwood as his lead (it strains credulity to really believe he is a talented architect). Lockwood's lack of charisma is what reportedly led Stanley Kubrick to cast him as the dull uncharismatic astronaut in 2001 (you know the old joke, the most "human" of the characters in 2001 was HAL!). Aimee, despite her French hauteur and ennui, brings the only life to the acting (the less said about Hay the better).

In sum, a tiny slice of life in late 60's L.A.. Not grand, but of some note.

Technical note. The American Cinemateque debuted a striking NEW 35MM print over the July 4th Weekend. Perhaps, this will signal a few Revival House and Film Festival Screenings, as well as a first-time on Video/DVD debut.

I saw this movie when I was 17, and shortly thereafter decided that I had to move to Los Angeles. In the years since, MODEL SHOP has remained so unavailable and obscure that I was never sure if the movie was really good, or only good to an impressionable small-town 17-year old seduced by its dreamlike visuals of the big city.

After seeing it again at the American Cinematheque, I have to commend my younger self for having good taste. The unusual locations and spare, sun-bleached desert look give the film an almost hallucinatory air. Only an outsider to LA like Demy can find the poetic beauty in desolate beach cottages strewn among sand-blown paths and churning oil derricks.

Demy's story of one day in the life of a disillusioned architect conveys a rich emotion perched between confusion, love, fear and optimism. I can't wait to see it again...