Model Shop (1969) User Reviews

The continuing story of Lola.

[dbdumonteil · 6/10 · 12 April 2003]

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.

Lost in L.A. 1969...

[MarieGabrielle · 8/10 · 14 May 2011]

This film is not the worst. Gary Lockwood as lost young architect George Matthews and Anouk Aimee as Lola, a stage name for a lost french model who works at a cheesy photo shop for erotic models.

The street scenes from 1969 are quite interesting. The actress who plays Gloria died at a young age from arteriosclerosis. She also is good as a rather direction-less actress, she wants to act, but George tells her ..."I will just see you naked in a bathtub, more soap commercials"... .

The sets are odd in that L.A. was still a relatively undeveloped city....its fun to see the old cars, the oil well and cheap housing George and Gloria live in right on the beach no less. Wonder where that was, in actuality, filmed. It would be interesting to compare how it looks today.

George basically meets up with some friends, tries to get interested in a newspaper his friends are running, he mostly needs a distraction to prevent himself from thinking about the draft, as his father informs him that he must return to San Francisco after the weekend to be entered in to the military for Vietnam. Vietnam and its cease-fire is hinted at here by a radio broadcast, but overall you get the sense of the pointless war, the young men trying to avoid the draft.

He eventually meets up again with Lola and tells her he wants to love her. She, a few years older, simply smiles. They eventually wind up at her friends nearby apartment though she is already packing to return to Paris to see her estranged son. They spend the night, and it gives George a slight sense of hope. He allows his former relationship with Gloria to evaporate, debates deserting the army, but eventually realizes, it is what it is.

Aimee is good, understated here, as a rather lost and empathic character who just wants to afford a flight back to Paris. Not an intricate theme here, but worth seeing for older scenes of L.A. 8/10.

The French New Wave comes to Los Angeles...not a big night at the movies, but pleasant enough

[moonspinner55 · 6/10 · 12 October 2009]

Gary Lockwood cuts an amusingly masculine presence on the screen: dressed in T-shirts and blue jeans, chain-smoking and driving a revamped jalopy--his hair combed down over his forehead like a teenage car mechanic--he's a walking centerfold out of Tiger Beat. Lockwood plays an unemployed denizen of Los Angeles who follows peculiarly glamorous Anouk Aimée one afternoon down the city street and into a model shop (where men can photograph girls--look but don't touch). She's a French immigrant who'll be returning home soon (something to do with her papers), and he's been drafted and about to have his car repossessed. Certainly a one-night-stand is all these two lovelies can afford, but the things they talk about, the connection they make, may last a lot longer. Director Jacques Demy seems to have fallen in love with late-'60s L.A., and much of the movie is spent just following Lockwood around from place to place. It isn't right to say the picture meanders (it hasn't got the agenda to meander from!), though it does feel mighty thin. Films based upon character and conversation are apt to tire some viewers' patience, but those in the mood for a low-keyed, would-be love story could certainly do worse. Lockwood is boyish but solemn, perhaps a loner, and of very few words; still, he connects with viewers on an intrinsic level (you trust him) and his final scene on the telephone is a winner. **1/2 from ****

Worth catching

[cwarne_uk · 5 February 2003]

This little seen Jaques Demy film is no lost masterpiece but is well worth catching. One of the most notable features is how well it captures a look of late sixties LA rarely seen in other movies. The story though is slight and the acting is uneven. Psychedelic rock fans should watch it to see the legendary Spirit - their music is on the soundtrack and they have a few lines. To sum up - an oddly interesting film not a great one.

CD out now!

[timerrill · 7/10 · 7 August 2005]

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!

Let's do the 70s LA nihilist time warp. The traffic is to die for.

[guyau-399-68372 · 7/10 · 23 September 2020]

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.

Sweet, European style drama with amazing LA milieu

[aaarrgh · 9/10 · 16 May 2005]

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...

Decent, but not magical

[Daniel Karlsson · 6/10 · 6 April 2004]

Holding 'Lola' as one of my favorite films, I didn't want to miss this. 'Model Shop' is supposed to be the sequel to Lola, taking place in LA. There is feeling, and obvious New Wave elements, but unfortunately what works in Paris in black and white (or Nantes, for that matter) doesn't work as good in Los Angeles. It works, but it's not as successful.

The acting is alright, nothing to really complain about, except that the love story between Aimée and Lockwood is too chilly. Lockwood says that he loves her, and already that is doubtful, but when he is in Aimée's apartment he hardly touches her; rather looking down or away, without any passion at all. He seems rather weary.

What seems to have started of well, turned out to be pretty uninteresting and dull. The magic from Lola (the film) is missing. The various ways in which this movie was connected to the earlier film were pretty silly. The script is good - for the most of the time. The ending could have been made much better. Recommended to Demy fans, others can spend their time watching something else.

3/5

Not Out-Dated

[angelsunchained · 9/10 · 15 September 2009]

The Model Shop which was made in 1969, is not out-dated today. Gary Lockwood plays a 26 year old who spends an entire day driving about town looking for something meaningful, as the threat of being drafted looms in the background. Clearly a somewhat typical 1960s film in the category of Summertree or Hail Hero, Lockwood has everything, but has nothing. Symbolism abound, and a great take on the American Dream. The film is low-key, as is Lockwood's performance. Unable to feel, or numbed by life's surroundings. Only after receiving his draft notice does Lockwood's character finally admits for the first time that he's afraid of what the future holds. The "Head in the Sand" feelings of many Americans in the 1960s who felt the war in Viet-Nam had nothing to do with them, is exposed here, until it's too late to feel, too late to care, and too late to love. The Model Shop is a "model" of modern film-making.

OK, I liked it...

[RamblerReb · 7/10 · 8 January 2011]

... even though it had flaws. Oh, did it have flaws.

Despite the stilted, downright on-the-nose dialogue in later scenes between George and Cecille's characters, and some just plain unrealistic bargaining with the repo men, I liked it.

Admittedly, it was mostly because of the diegetic music, the POV car shots, and the generally understated tone of the piece. One can tell this was the product of French thinking, without a doubt. The narrative is very reminiscent of the Dogme (I know, I know, not French, leave me alone) school of film making, though the last scene, with its non-diegetic music, violates a rule or two.

In the end, however, the film uses the setting, script, and acting (for good or ill) to tell the story without reliance on plot device or other contrivance (the draft notice doesn't count because it was a real fact of life in 1969).

If the performances of some of the main actors seem uncompelling, it is because the characters themselves are uncompelling. If George's girlfriend was worth keeping, wouldn't he have kept her? If George was worth keeping, wouldn't Cecille have stayed? The emptiness of their lives is reflected in the alacrity that is shown in escaping from them.

The moral of the story is: Why don't we all just have our MG TDs picked up and be done with it?

A rather boring film about people I didn't particularly care about one way or the other...

[planktonrules · 2/10 · 30 June 2010]

This is a bad film, French New Wave or not. While I don't love this type of movie, even as an example of the genre, it's bad. French Writer/Director Jacques Demy (who I have loved in several of his other films) makes a mostly aimless film about a guy who has the personality of a paper towel...and it's all set in America. The guy is Gary Lockwood and I felt a bit sorry for him in the movie as he really had very little to do except exist as well as do things that rarely made sense. Emoting in any way certainly was NOT in the cards for this guy!

The film begins with Lockwood in bed with his girlfriend (who, coincidentally, has almost no personality either). There's a knock at the door as finance company guys are about to repossess his car. He gets them to agree to wait until the end of the day and Lockwood spends much of the beginning of the film visiting various acquaintances trying to bum money from them. Finally, he finds a soft touch and gets the $100 he needs, but ends up spending it on a woman he just saw as he was driving down the street (Anouk Aimée) who poses for perverts who pay her to strip. And, as a result, he can't pay for the car. I assume this is supposed to be romantic, but the guy just comes off as a leeching idiot. Plus, when he announces that he loves her even though he doesn't even know her, he seems like a real creeper!

The film bears some similarities to the famous "Breathless" ("À bout de soufflé"), though unlike Jean-Paul Belmondo (who also plays a low-life), Lockwood's character has no personality and is very, very stiff (in a bad way). At least with Belmondo, he had style and a certain rogue-ish charm. But watching a similar style film with none of the positive qualities of the Godard/Truffaut film, it's a real chore to endure. And, with a plot that seems a bit recycled, the New Wave novelty can't even be respected.

A dull and unconvincing film, it didn't even benefit from being bad. If it been terrible and not dull, this would have been an improvement--at least with terrible you can watch it for a laugh!

every once in a while a movie like this comes on the TV

[RanchoTuVu · 9/10 · 19 December 2008]

The time and the setting (late 60's LA) seem among the most authentic of any movie from that period, probably owing to the director who wasn't trying to exploit the culture like so many American directors of the time did. The film transcends nostalgia, and is very worth seeing for the style, authenticity, and music (provided by one of LA's greatest bands, Spirit). The main character played by Gary Lockwood (lots of TV credits over the years) is under great direction by Demy, who helps to make him into an American version of someone out of French New Wave. And into the wave comes Anouk Aimme, whom he meets in an LA "model shop", about as cool and detached a woman as ever graced the screen.

Not great but a fantastic 60s L.A. travelogue

[CincySaint · 6/10 · 18 July 2022]

Not a great watch as there are no characters to root for and the ending is stark.

But wow...L. A. is the star here with a LOT of footage captured driving around the city in the 60s. So much to see and marvel at -- many things have changed but some have remained.

The film does a decent job of capture the innui and disillusionment of Vietnam-era America. Things were changing fast and that's reflected in the characters action.

I'd suggest this more for film buffs (French New Wave), 60s fans, and L. A. fans than to casual movie watchers.

Gimme a break

[tentender · 2/10 · 24 January 2010]

I note the many laudatory reviews here and the general tone of those on amazon is similar. I'm sorry, but don't make me laugh! This is a stinker from the word go, that is unless you want to overlook the two most basic elements of film story-telling, to wit: (1) a coherent and preferably imaginatively dialogued script and (2) competent acting. As a follow-up to the brilliant "Lola" and the virtually undisputed masterpiece "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" -- in the sense that all three films have characters in common -- this is shocking. I think perhaps it will suffice to say that Jacques Demy (who is not only director but co-writer) was not quite comfortable with the English language at the time he made this, his only American film. The same can obviously said of Anouk Aimee, giving a perfectly ludicrous performance (the "model shop" scene, especially, where she gets into supposedly alluring poses for her client's camera must be seen to be believed). Alexandra Hay, however, has no such excuse. She is simply dreadful. As George Cukor unflinchingly said of co-star Aimee, "The lady simply can't act." But I have given this film two stars, and there are two reasons. One: co-star Gary Lockwood (really the top star, though second billed; there is not a frame of the film in which he does not appear), though not a very skilled actor, tries his best, and watching his stuff flop around in his tight jeans (no underwear, as is made clear when he puts his pants on in the first scene) is at least something to concentrate on. He also has a very, very cute butt and looks damn good with his shirt off as well (two scenes). If that is enough for you, then you may enjoy this film. The other reason is that an excellent late 60's rock band, Spirit, not only wrote the soundtrack (supplemented by a number of Classical selections), but appear in the film in one brief scene. They can't act, either, but it's a nice documentary moment, catching them just as they were making their mark. It's rather endearing. My final complaint: Sony's insulting packaging -- super ugly, too.

Peculiar character study by French director in a one-shot American gig.

[Poseidon-3 · 5 January 2009]

Two somewhat lost souls are studied in this ambling, low-key film, covering a 24-hour period. Lockwood plays a 26 year-old architect student who's left his job because things aren't happening quickly enough for him and he's disenchanted with the time it takes to really make a mark in the field. He lives with his actress girlfriend Hay who, while maybe not soaring to the top, is at least on a track to someplace, unlike him. With money scarce, his car is about to be repossessed unless he can cough up $100. Aimee plays a remote, austere French woman who catches his eye and who he practically stalks in order to meet. Their simultaneously simple, yet complex, existences collide briefly with each giving the other a portion of what's missing in his or her life. Lockwood (who's looking very fit and hunky here) tries to give his often-expository dialogue a realistic, unaffected touch, but often he's defeated by the contrivance and occasional pontificating nature of his lines. He's understated to the point of near disinterest at times. However, he's intriguing enough to hold attention most of the movie. Hay is clearly trying, but she just doesn't have the acting skill or ease of manner to put her character across without seeming forced and unnatural. Top-billed Aimee, who actually has a smallish role, is appropriately jaded and mysterious (and compelling looking), but is almost a little too vague to really grab hold of the viewer. This was director Demy's only Hollywood film and his lack of grasp with the language translates to his cast. It's clear that he didn't have the security with English in order to help his actors massage the dialogue and make it sound as comfortable and as dynamic as it needed to be. Too frequently, lines are delivered with the wrong words emphasized and this bleeds away some of the impact of them. The film does afford a priceless view of Los Angeles in the mid-60s and fans of vintage automobiles ought to have a field day ogling the many, many cars of the era that Lockwood drives alongside in his frequent sojourns on the road. Music in the film vacillates between songs by the group Spirit and classical selections, all of which, in a very odd decision, appear to come from the very same radio station in Lockwood's car!! Cultural touchstones such as rock music and underground/independent newspapers (as well as a seedy model-for-hire joint) provide some moments of interest amid the soul-searching and almost dreamlike meandering of Lockwood. This is definitely not a film for everyone, but for those inclined it's worth a look.

French New Wave hits LA

[NORDIC-2 · 7/10 · 13 June 2014]

Distinguished French New Wave writer-director Jacques Demy's first American film, 'Model Shop', is a belated sequel to 'Lola', his 1961 directorial debut. Both films feature Anouk Aimée as Lola, the sexy, somewhat mysterious love interest. In the earlier film Lola is a French "cabaret dancer" (prostitute) pursued by three romantic rivals. In the latter film Lola, now approaching middle age, works in a Los Angeles "model shop," i.e., a quasi-pornographic establishment that rents out cameras and beautiful pin-up models to amateur photographers. This time around Lola has only one ardent suitor: George Matthews (Gary Lockwood), a 26-year-old unemployed architect with a dimwitted 22-year-old girlfriend named Gloria (Alexandra Hay), a beloved Triumph TR3 about to be repossessed, and a newly arrived draft notice that might send him to Vietnam. After spotting Lola in traffic the usually blasé George is instantly smitten. He follows her back to the model shop and spends his last twelve dollars photographing her—and becoming more intensely infatuated. Lola submits to a one-night stand with George but will not allow the relationship to deepen: she only wants to return to her 14- year-old son in France as soon as she can afford the airfare. A desultory day-in-the-life saga, Model Shop beautifully evokes draft-era existential insecurity—and the desolate urban sprawl that is modern Los Angeles. The California rock band, Spirit, supplies the music. Trivia: Jacques Demy wanted Harrison Ford to play George Matthews but Columbia opted for Gary Lockwood, because of his starring role in Stanley Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey' (1968) he was a much more famous actor at the time. More trivia: Fred Willard has an uncredited cameo as a gas station attendant. Further trivia: In 2005 Sundazed Records released Spirit's previously unreleased soundtrack album, 'Model Shop'. The film was a commercial failure. DVD (Region 2 – France; 2008); DVD (2009).

French Hollywood

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 26 July 2020]

George Matthews (Gary Lockwood) is an aimless jobless guy in L.A. Repo-men are coming for his car and he needs $100 to pay them off. His girlfriend Gloria is trying to get into the entertainment business and he doesn't care. The war is raging and he expects to get drafted. While driving around, he spots a beauty (Anouk Aimée) and follows her car to a hillside mansion. She runs a "Model Shop" which rents out models for private photo sessions.

The repo-men are too nice. The guy should join him in retrieving the money. If there's no money, he can grab the car right away. No repo-man would let him delay like that. The tow truck driver is right. Quite frankly, it could be worst and George could crash the car or take off to who knows where. This is more than a little thing. It starts the movie. The scene could have placed it on a higher intensity but the repo-man sets a chilled tone right from the beginning. Of course, George is so chilled that he's almost dead. I get the point but the chilled tone almost stalls the movie. He doesn't have the money and he still goes to the repo office. What is that? Repo should at least ask for partial payment. I'm just stuck on the repo situation.

I'm actually intrigued with this chilled performance. His aimlessness grows out of a state of hibernation from his draft status. It's an interesting angle if the movie has a more intense outer world. This is French director Jacques Demy trying to go Hollywood. It feels like a small slice of French cinema being grafted onto Hollywood. Lockwood's acting is too static and rarely has emotional depth. He's doing the same thing from start to finish no matter what's happening to his character. The idea is a little intriguing but the movie has no tension.

French Art Film in the U.S.

[robert-blau · 9/10 · 16 May 2020]

One of my favorite films, a French art film set and filmed in late '60s Los Angeles, directed by Jacques Demy and (co-)starring Anouk Aimee ("A Man and a Woman" (Un Homme et Une Femme")). Some points I think are salient:

1) It really makes you feel like you are there, experiencing (or at least witnessing) what the main character is experiencing. For anyone who was alive at the time (e.g., baby boomers), especially those who spent any time in California, it really takes you back. Just as 1961's "Something Wild" (with Carroll Baker) depicted a New York that no longer exists, "Model Shop" does something similar for late '60s L.A,

2) It also gives you a strong vicarious experience of a day in one's life when everything seems to be coming apart. I'm sure that many can relate.

3) Whereas most films and TV tend to overdramatize life, this one seems to miss it from the OTHER side. I found it an interesting change. Admittedly, one wonders how everyone in the film seems to really like and appreciate the main character when, on the surface at least, he doesn't seem to have all that much going for him. The film kind of begs the question, Can someone be TOO laid back? Yet, somehow George manages to make a sympathetic center.

4) Speaking of "Something Wild", both films have two distinguishable "halves": the first focused on the general situation faced by the main character, and the second on the change produced at a point of desperation by a chance encounter.

5) I thought that relatively minor and little-known actress (and subsequent poser for Playboy) Alexandra Hay gave a fairly striking performance as George's girlfriend.

I think that the film definitely qualifies as a "cult film" and, in my opinion, a small gem. Again, it's been one of my favorites since I first saw it on late-night broadcast TV just a few years after it was filmed. (I have no idea whether it had much of a theatrical release.) The DVD can found at discount websites.

Anouk Aimee was Beautiful

[whpratt1 · 6/10 · 19 December 2008]

Enjoyed this film from the very beginning to the end and the wonderful photographs of Los Angele, California. George Matthews, (Gary Lockwood) sets his eyes on a beautiful woman named Lola, (Anouk Aim) who is a model in a strange shop. George is having a hard time trying to find himself in Los Angeles, and he does not work, but has plenty of friends who loan him money and at the same time he is living with a gal who is getting tired of George being so lazy in life. There is also a finance company trying to reposes his BMW and things are getting pretty rough for George. You will definitely not be able to figure out how this film is going to end.

An underrated Demy film - worth seeing again.

[peterjamesyates · 8/10 · 11 November 2002]

Perhaps too many years have passed since last I saw this film. As I recall, it's a good example of Demy's craft as a film maker, with a good performance from Gary Lockwood. Moreover, it captures the atmosphere of the late 1960s and is the sort of picture that doesn't disappoint the viewer on subsequent screenings.

A bittersweet romance during a bitter war.

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 13 April 2022]

This is a surprisingly good romantic drama made during the Vietnam war involving a struggling photographer (Gary Lockwood) who sees the French beauty Anouck Aimee on the street, follows her to a studio where women are paid to be photographed, and gently pursues her even though she seems not to be interested. He's already broken up with his girlfriend, Alexandra Ray, and is trying to escape a car dealer agency trying to repossess his car. He's struggling to make ends meet so he can pay that bill, and then all of a sudden finds out that his draft notice has arrived back in his hometown of San Francisco. One night with Aimee seems to be the answer for him to solve his problems, and before that, they have a lengthy discussion over their lives which is quite poignant and sweet and really makes this film well worth seeing.

Allegedly, Aimee is playing the character of Lola, a role she had played in a friend's film a decade before, also directed by Jacques Demy, and while I have not yet seen that film, things she describes to Lockwood they have occurred in that movie and other films by Demy. It is a simple story of a non simple time, and Lockwood is quite the gentleman with her even when he asks to stay the night with her. This doesn't present itself in the weird mod way that many other films in the 60s did so it stands the test of time a little better with themes that resonate today. It's a beautiful colorful production with good performances and a believable script, and it's a shame that it did not do well when it was first released.

Jacques Demy's America...

[JasparLamarCrabb · 4/10 · 14 October 2009]

The empty lives of a would-be architect and a bored French woman collide in Jacques Demy's American film. It's not dull, but it's not easy to sit through either. What the viewer is expected to get out of this is anyone's guess. Gary Lockwood carries the film as a kid about to be drafted and Anouk Aimee plays the French woman. They're fine but Aimee's command of the English language is pretty distracting. She's very distant and it's impossible to tell if that's the actress or the character she's playing. She is of course stunning (and never looked more like Sophia Loren). The film, set in Los Angeles, makes good use of the Sunset Strip. With the terrible Alexandra Hay as Lockwood's frustrated girlfriend and Severn Darden, who has one creepy line of dialog.

American young man likes a French prostitute in LA; however, at same time he receives his draft notice for the Vietnam War and he doesn't have money.

[Dinehfilmmaker · 10/10 · 19 December 2008]

Just viewed the Model Shop, 1969 last night but not all of it because I suddenly switched it on TV, Ted Turner Classics on cable. I liked it a lot. I have not seen a lot of the other films Demy made, but I've seen the other new wave films made by other filmmakers. I really like that period of film-making. Luv it.

Someone's comment said, he or she didn't the romance between Lockwood and Aimee, that it was chilled, but I liked it because of that. I liked it's slowness, the late sixties time, the long takes as Gary Lockwood drove his car around LA, the whole look.

I lived in LA, not in early 70's but during the late 70's-94. I miss LA a lot. Sometimes I hated it living there for several reasons, but sometimes I really liked it. Seems like I grew up there in my adult life.

I knew most all of those streets or was familiar with a lot of the the streets I saw in the film where the character Gary Lockwood drove around.

Reminded me of my short 1960s time in LA

[starbase202 · 7/10 · 19 June 2019]

I watched this on TCM last night and got mesmerized by the down-on-their-luck / 'lost-in-space' story. Also, seeing how ugly much of LA could be to travel through took me back to my mid-60s time there. Both stars (Gary Lockwood & Aminee) where also hot eye candy. But what a sad ending: She leaves him and returns to France - and once in the US Army he probably gets sent to Vietnam and killed. And as I researched Gary's career - it made me wonder why he never got to big a bigger star.

Awful

[gbill-74877 · 1/10 · 28 July 2017]

In a word, ugh. Don't waste your time with this film. It has a low-budget, indie feel to it, which could have been a big positive, but the acting is shockingly bad. Gary Lockwood is wooden and Alexandra Hay is awful, and on top of that, the script is sleepy and uninspired. The soundtrack and brief appearance from the band Spirit is as well. There is a moment at which Lockwood gets a draft notice that feels real and of interest, bringing back a difficult period in America, but it's quickly snuffed by the lethargy of Lockwood's attraction to a model (Anouk Aimée) who can be paid to pose for risqué photos. It's quite tedious to see Lockwood slowly tooling around in his convertible in scene after scene, though it is of some interest to see street scenes in 1960's Los Angeles, and that's the best thing the film has going for it. Otherwise, director Jacques Demy even finds a way to make scenes with two beautiful stars, Aimée and Lockwood, boring. Whew.