Women at Work

“A wryly funny, vividly colourful musical-microcosm; one that succeeds in being effervescent and wildly entertaining at the same time as sharply critical in its depiction of love and desire in an era of unbridled consumerism.”—Angelica Waite, Cinema Reborn

The exuberant enchantments of the singing, dancing musical meet the feminist, formalist sensibility of cinematic visionary Chantal Akerman (Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles) in this uniquely captivating vision of love and survival in the age of late capitalism. Amid the consumerist wonderland of a shopping mall, a cadre of store employees bounce in and out of one another’s arms in a cycle of breakups, makeups, misunderstandings, and reunions, their romantic roundelay punctuated by imaginatively stylized production numbers. Working with frequent star Delphine Seyrig and a remarkable team of writers, Akerman deftly balances the shiny pop pleasures of the genre with piercing variations on her signature themes, including a startlingly moving reflection on Jewish resilience and the legacy of the Holocaust.