Model Shop (1969)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Jacques Demy

Writer:

Jacques Demy (writer)

Release Date:

1 April 1969 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Maybe Tomorrow. Maybe Never. Maybe.

Plot:

George Matthews is a young man who is having a bittersweet affair with a French divorcée in Los Angeles...

Plot Keywords:

Model | Los Angeles California | Unemployed | 1960s | Military Draft

Cast

Anouk Aimée	...	Lola aka Cecile
Gary Lockwood	...	George Matthews
Alexandra Hay	...	Gloria
Carol Cole	...	Barbara
Tom Holland	...	Gerry (as Tom Fielding)
Severn Darden	...	Portly Man
Neil Elliot	...	Fred
Jacqueline Miller	...	Model No. 1
Duke Hobbie	...	David
Anne Randall	...	Model No. 2
Craig Littler	...	Rob
Hilary Thompson	...	Girl Hippie
Jon Lawson	...	Tony
Jean Sorel	...	Secretary
Jon Hill

Country:

France | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | USA:M

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Harrison Ford was Jacques Demy's first choice for the main character instead of Gary Lockwood, but Columbia didn't want Ford, saying he wouldn't make any money.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003)

The continuing story of 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.