F ollowing the rapturous reception accorded to his pop opera The Umbrellas of Cherbourg in 1964, Jacques Demy continued in the same vein with Les Demoiselles de Rochefort, which encapsulated his passion for the Hollywood musical, while also revealing him to be every bit as cinematically subversive as Truffaut and Godard. Indeed, this candy-coloured confection could easily be considered the last great film of the nouvelle vague.
For all its complexities, the plot is almost an irrelevance. Danielle Darrieux owns a café on the square in the coastal town of Rochefort, where twin daughters Catherine Deneuve and Françoise Dorléac teach music and dance to local kids while dreaming of making it big in Paris and finding the ideal man. Deneuve has a crush on artist Jacques Perrin (whom she has never met), while Darrieux loves the father of her young son, Michel Piccoli, who runs a nearby music store and is friends with celebrated American composer Gene Kelly – who falls for Dorleac.
The various romantic contrivances provide a convenient dramatic structure. But Demy is more interested in the bustle of life outside Darrieux’s window that centres on the fair that brings likely lads George Chakiris and Grover Dale to town. Consequently, peripheral characters break into dance steps as well as the principals, and this sense of spontaneity spills over into the songs, which Demy and Michel Legrand composed in the manner of Rodgers and Hart to flow naturally from the dialogue, so that speaking and singing became interchangeable.
The influence of Mamoulian’s Love Me Tonight and Minnelli’s An American in Paris is readily apparent, but this sly satire on Franco-American relations also shares a fondness for action on the edge of the frame with Jacques Tati’s Playtime. Far from being an outdated throwback, this is every bit as modern and audacious as 1967’s other major musical event, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Les Demoiselles ont eu 25 ans (64mins) - documentary by Agnes Varda mixing on-set footage, home movies and footage from the 25th Anniversary celebrations in Rochefort
Catherine Deneuve Guardian Interview (7mins)
Extracts from the Guardian Interview in which Catherine Deneuve talks about working with Jacques Demy and his influence on her career
Gene Kelly Guardian Lecture (20mins)
Audio extracts from Gene Kelly’s Guardian Lecture on the Hollywood Musical
Michel Legrand's score presented in uncompressed PCM.
Film Description
A vibrant hommage to the classical musical which abounds with terrific songs and an air of poignant regret, Les Demoiselles Rochefort takes place over the course of one weekend in the seaside town of Rochefort, where a fair is coming to the town square. The story centers on twin sisters Delphine (Catherine Deneuve) and Solange (Francoise Orléac), Delphine teaches ballet classes and Solange gives music lessons for a living, but each longs to find her ideal love and a life outside of Rochefort. Oh, and catch Gene Kelly strutting his stuff in a cameo too.
