Amour et publicité: Window Shopping for Drama

So, you want to watch a movie about people trapped in a store window?

Honestly, Amour et publicité is a weird little relic. If you’re into vintage French cinema or just like movies where people talk way too much about their engagement status, you might get a kick out of it. If you’re looking for fast pacing or, you know, a plot that doesn't feel like a theatrical sketch stretched thin, you’ll probably be bored to tears within twenty minutes. 🙄

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Amour et publicité (1933) through its definitive frames.

The premise is simple enough. A boss thinks he’s a genius for putting living breathing humans in the windows of his department store. Because nothing sells perfume or hats like watching someone pretend to be married. It reminded me a bit of the frantic energy in Annabelle's Affairs, where people are just constantly trying to maintain appearances while everything goes sideways.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Amour et publicité (1933) through its definitive frames.

The Window Life

Watching Lucie have to sit there and act like a blushing bride is genuinely awkward. And that’s the point, I guess. The camera lingers on her face while she’s trying not to laugh at the crowd outside. It’s the kind of specific discomfort that makes a movie feel human, even when the acting is a little stiff.

There’s this moment where the real fiancé shows up in the window to play the 'husband' role, and you can see him struggling to keep his cool. It’s like watching a train wreck in slow motion, but with better fashion. The whole thing feels less like a real film and more like a stage play that someone accidentally filmed. It’s charming, but yeah, it’s also kind of goofy.

Odd Observations

• The lighting in the windows makes everyone look like they’re being interrogated by the fashion police.
• The dialogue is incredibly fast. I think they’re trying to compensate for the fact that the actors can’t move their legs much.
• The hats! My god, the hats. Everyone in this movie is wearing a hat that could double as a dinner table.
• I kept waiting for someone to just walk out of the window and quit.

If you like movies that feel a bit like Crossed Wires in terms of romantic misunderstanding, you’ll probably survive this. It’s not deep, and it certainly isn’t trying to change the world. It’s just people standing in a box trying to fall in love without getting fired. Sometimes, that’s enough. Other times, you just want to go take a walk outside the store. 🎩