You can almost smell the hairspray in Akerman’s exuberant but subversive musical about the many romantic entanglements of salon workers in a shopping mall basement. Its natty 1980s style, witty song lyrics, rapturous dance sequences, not to mention a gloriously bitchy male-suited quartet, deliver all the joys of the genre. At the same time, Akerman critiques the consumerist ‘paradise’ around them, questioning whether love, if it’s tied to conformity, really is the answer.

Screening as part of 5 by Akerman

Director Chantal Akerman
Year 1986
Duration 1h 59m
Language French with English Subtitles
Cast Delphine Seyrig, John Berry, Nicolas Tronc