Rivette brings into this offbeat and energetic film the sense of chance and the interweaving group encounters that we find in his other Paris films. Then, an hour into the action, the characters begin to sing. And dance. Why are we not surprised? Inspired by the MGM low-budget quickies that were shot on sets left over from other films, Rivette made a musical on his backlot-the streets, alleys, and everyday haunts of Paris. Three women pursue their personal mysteries in the lazy heat of a Paris summer: Louise (Marianne Denicourt) has just emerged from a five-year coma in a provincial hospital; Ninon (Nathalie Richard) is an ex-moll going straight as a moped-riding delivery girl; and Ida the librarian (Laurence Cote (corr: Côte)) seeks the mother who gave her up for adoption. More than one of these paths will lead to the chanteuse Sarah (Anna Karina), and to Roland (André Marcon), the ubiquitous Gene Kelly figure of the film. "(Rivette) knows MGM musicals like the back of his hand. But (for him) this knowledge is precious because it enhances and poeticizes real life, not because it offers an alternative or escape." (Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader)