"Lola"/"Bay of Angels"

So, for today's "elocution de movieness," I'll do a two-fer. Recently, I picked up the Jacques Demy Criterion box set, and I'll admit to doing that largely because whenever I see the word "collection" on a DVD box, my buyin' fingers start itching. I didn't even know who Jacques Demy was, although I'd heard of "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" before. That's not either of the two movies I'll write about now.

In the last couple of weeks, I've seen the first two salvos in this box, "Lola" and "Bay of Angels," and folks, they're both big, big winners. When "Lola" was restored for DVD release, the original negative had been lost. So I thought, upon bringing home this Demy box, I'd put that one in the player and watch five minutes, just to see how it looked. I ended up rooted to "Lola" for its entirety right then....granted, it's only 88 minutes. And I just finished watching "Bay of Angels" today. Both have the same sort of plot basis, a female character in trouble, coupled with a naïve and mostly well-meaning male character.

These films were released in 1961 and 3 respectively, and yet their pacing suggests modern films. "Bay of Angels" is a crisp 84 minutes, and there's not a moment or shot wasted in either movie. I already mentioned getting tangled in "Lola"'s web almost immediately and "Bay of Angels" was no different. I understand that future movies in this box set are largely musicals, so we'll see how that goes, but these first two have me thanking myself over and over that I purchased the Demy box.