One Sings, the Other Doesn't (1977) review

Two young ladies, Pomme (Valérie Mairesse) a singer (who fights with her parents) and Suzanne (Thérèse Liotard), a pregnant mother of two children, form a close friendship when Pomme volunteers to raise money for Suzanne's abortion (she can't afford a third kid); after a tragic incident they're separated from each other for a decade, where they each experience life and make questionable decisions - Pomme marries an Iranian, Suzanne has affairs with married men (they keep making bad choices) - and communicate with each other via postcards.  I've always admired Varda's fortitude and her utilization of whimsy in her movies, but this is too flaky and a little tiring: there are sections in Amsterdam and Tehran that feel like they only exist because she 'just wanted to film there,' and the talk about women's rights is simultaneously relevant and somehow redundant (it's a case of preaching to the converted).  I guess the songs are in there to add a little levity, but they're not as fun as she thinks they are: if I was walking past them in the street I wouldn't have dropped a single franc in a hat.