Kara, are you a film maker or just a philosopher? What a precise and concise analysis of one of the greatest early Demy's works! I agree fully, and make your words mine. Your photography skill is evident (I'm a photographer too). Furthermore, the photography is one of the high spots of this film. Superb B&W rendition, together with expert scene lighting, camera, decors, everything. The zigzag mirrors scenes in the casino are a treat! Never been into gambling, but I know a little about addictions. It's always a sad story. I've met Demy in Rio de Janeiro some 30 yrs ago. We became friends, but unfortunately he died in 1990. I highly recommend Agnes Varda's films. Not by accident she was married to Jacques, and their son Mathieu Demy is a very good actor.

The first fifteen minutes promise much. A young man is introduced to gambling and wins. His drab life is transformed, briefly. Then he decides to take off for 3 weeks to the coast and more Casinos. There he meets Jeanne Moreau, platinum tresses, and pouty lips, addicted to gambling, and as guileful as they come. Will he succumb to her flashy exterior or will he see sense and quit while his common sense is still intact? Well it's a french "new wave" movie so as can be expected, it's all about people's weaknesses not their strengths.The movie then drags us around from casino to casino, from loss to gain, to loss. There is no passion here. This I hope was intended for wasting one's life for a turn in ones luck is a passionless existence. These kinds of themes are like movies about alcoholics. Who cares for these people? Who wants to watch people we care less for pissing away their lives? Don't waste your time. This "wave" laps on shore like a whisper.

Jacques Demy's second feature is an amazingly fluid, vibrant comedy about love and luck, starring Jeanne Moreau at her (dazzling) best. And she is literally dazzling, in resplendent costumes (mostly by Pierre Cardin) and radiantly blonde. The music by Michel Legrand is one of his best scores ever, as it sweeps through the film, carrying everything along with two basic themes, one furiously accelerated piano theme, the other a softer, more lilting theme played in different variations, but mostly on the mandolin. It's a movie that sweeps you along, just as fast and unpredictable as a spin on the roulette wheel. This is a film in which "black-and-white" becomes a dazzling metaphor, so that the sun-drenched exteriors of the south of France are contrasted with the various interiors of hotel rooms and casinos. LA BAIE DES ANGES may seem slight, but only "seems": it's one of the most passionate statements on love and faith in the modern cinema, and it's a work of true enchantment.

This is a kind of interesting film. It has been overshadowed by later, greater works by Jacques Demy, such as Les Parapluies de Cherbourg, but at its heart it has pretty much the same themes - the difficulties of translating American modernity into French provincial life. Moreau has an unusual turn as an Americanised film star, complete with bleached blonde hair -do a la Marilyn Monroe, playing Jackie, a gambler on the Cote d'Azur. Jean, on holiday from his strict father, falls in love with her. This slight plot (that really is it!)is the background for meditations on chance, love, luck, and life. There are some virtuoso cinematic moments, such as Jackie running toward Jean being glimpsed in mirrors at the end of the film. The overpowering score is slightly grating, but all in all it's a charming period piece.