Few movies deserve revival more than Jacques Demy’s delicious feature debut of 1960, which exhibits all the lyrical invention, ebullience and sheer love of cinema that characterised the French New Wave at its best. As cabaret singer and single mother Lola, Anouk Aimee was never better; patiently awaiting the return to Nantes of her young son’s father, her vivacity attracts suitors like moths to a flame. But it’s not only Lola that fascinates Demy; she’s merely the entrancing centre of a carousel of characters who epitomise past and future dreams and fears for both her and her lover. The breezy tone, musical numbers and Raoul Coutard’s luscious black and white Scope images belie a poignant awareness that happiness is transient and love a matter of luck. Formal elegance and emotional subtlety are seamlessly interwoven.—Geoff Andrew.