Model Shop (1969)
Gary Lockwood plays an unemployed architect about to have his car repossessed and set to be drafted to Vietnam in two days time. Scrounging for $100 to pay the finance company he briefly meets a beautiful woman (Anouk Aim?e) and follows her up to the Laurel Canyon hills before discovering she works in a tawdry model shop where customers can take erotic photos the the girls for a price.
French director Jacques Demy went to Los Angeles on holiday and fell in love with the place so much he made a film there. (I know how he felt) A film that captures the neo-realism of the city, beautifully evocative of it's time and place, especially in it's pop culture and the California sound which is heard here thanks to the soundtrack by Spirit.
Much of the film is focused on following Lockwood around the streets of the developing L.A. and it's here that the atmosphere really comes through with the city being the real star of the show. Although this isn't difficult as Lockwood has the personality of a pebble but thanks to studio interference was chosen above Demy's original choice - the then unknown Harrison Ford - whilst Aimee barely features during the first hour of this 90 minute movie.
Although the plot is slight i really enjoyed much of this film and it's not hard to see why it inspired the likes of Quentin Tarantino and Greta Gerwig with it's experimental vibe and Counterculture ideology.
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