"Golden Eighties": Remaking the Mall Musical

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Golden Eighties (1986)

Reimagining a classic European musical for a contemporary audience

  • Country: Belgium/France/Switzerland

  • Genre: Musical

  • Director: Chantal Akerman

  • Starring: Myriam Boyer, John Berry, Delphine Seyrig, Nicolas Tronc, Lio, Pascale Salkin, Fanny Cottençon, Charles Denner, Jean-François Balmer

Still from Golden Eighties (1986), directed by Chantal Akerman. Photo courtesy of Cinémathèque Royale de Belgique / Fondation Chantal Akerman.

Clinical Overview

Shopping mall employees and customers fall in and out of love in this 1980’s European musical.

Diagnosis

A modern remake could simplify and clarify its emotional arc while preserving its kitschy charm.

Prescription

In the reimagining: hairdresser Mado loves boutique clerk Robert; Robert is in love with salon owner Lili; his ex, Pascale, secretly pines for Mado.

A married Jewish manager is unexpectedly reunited with her former lover—a wealthy Palestinian. Their rekindled romance remains invisible to the younger generation.

Yet barista Sylvie observes everything from her café counter. An aspiring writer, she pinpoints the film’s themes of consumerism, feminism, and nationalism.