An insubstantial musical bubble about the vagaries of love set in an 80s stage set shopping mall.

Chantal Akerman wanted to stage a big song and dance film, but budget scaled it down to a few sets and songs and a male and female chorus to lighten the mood.

There’s a dress shop, a hair salon, a cafe and a cinema. Robert (Nicolas Tronc) is the son of the dress shop owners – he could be a dapper Dominique Pinon – and he’s in love with hair salon manager, and party girl, Lili (Fanny Cottençon). But hairdresser Mado (Europop queen Lio who doesn’t get to sing) is in love with him and Lili prefers her married lover M. Jean (Jean-François Balmer) for what he can provide her.

The hairdressers in yellow and blue sway in time and dart in an out in a choreographed dance to punctuate the drama. A male chorus ridicules Robert. All in all, we see how uncontrollable love is, how it can bring hope but can’t be forced.

The film ends with a gasp of air as we emerge into a real street, and the melodrama is lit with the harsh light of what would have then been reality, but now looks like history.

Director: Chantal Akerman
Origin: Belgium, France (1986)
Language: French with English subtitles
Genre: Musical

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