Filmed in sunshine and primary colors, "The Young Girls of Rochefort" is a fluffy fantasy that takes the language of Hollywood musicals and distills it to its essence. The result is something not to be taken seriously, but still very interesting.In "Young Girls", Gene Kelly borrows from himself, in some instances using nearly identical steps to those he used in "Invitation to the Dance"--his seminal experiment in using dance as a cinematic language. One might suppose that the director, Jacques Demy, was inspired by Kelly's creation, though "Young Girls" is more than dance.Two other--more recent-films come to mind. Francis Ford Coppola's "One From the Heart", released in 1981, feels related and "Young Girls" might have been an inspiration for Coppola, but Coppola's film is more finished, more grounded in reality despite its larger than life presentation.The other is Baz Luhrmann's "Moulin Rouge" (2001), which is close enough, stylistically, to "Young Girls" that it seems very likely Luhrmann had seen Demy's film. But don't all the actors in "Moulin Rouge" sing their own parts despite the fact they are not singing stars? Even if Luhrmann owes a debt to Demy, he advanced the genre significantly.Regardless of these references, "The Young Girls of Rochefort" is part of the historical landscape that includes every musical of its era and some much later. Catherine Deneuve and Francoise Dorleac are certainly game to play their roles as dancing sisters. Like the primary colors that surround them, they give performances that shine with a brightness. They embody enthusiasm and a fantastical naivete. I also enjoyed seeing George Chakiris, six years after "West Side Story".One thing I found slightly annoying was the ubiquitous product placement. Michel LeGrand's score, which some viewers might find overbearing (and others might find perfect), deserves attention. The film as a whole is a coherent vision worth seeing.

The Young Girls of Rocheford (1967)It's kind of amazing this kind of film was even ever made. It's both wonderful and horrible. The horrible aspects kept me from really watching every minute, but the wonderful aspects made me try. This is a French musical that is almost all singing. The plot moves along, barely, and lacks the clarity of say a Fred Astaire musical (or any other American affair), and it doesn't have dance very often (or very well done). But boy does it go from one song to another.The stylizing is terrific--every set is modern and clean, inside and out on the streets of 1960s Paris. If you are a fan of Catherine Deneuve, she's a bit inaccessible beneath the heavy wig and makeup and amidst all the singing. In fact, there is nothing sincere going on here, unless you can reach beneath the veneer of the music and its styleThat's the trick here, adapting to this very very different way of telling a story. I don't think it's brilliant, but it has elements that will appeal to people already comfortable with the vocabulary, and the arch falseness of it all. Because, actually, deep down, and very shallowly hidden, is a heart-rending story of two young woman wanting true love. Of course, they are impossibly beautiful and the fact they are even marginally single is hilarious, but such is a movie, and a musical.You might recognize a song or two here, but for the most part the musical aspects are vehicles for replacing normal dialog. What a cool idea...if only done with more verve and imagination. Even the filming, for all its clean perfection, is a bit dry, at least compared to the muscular films of American 1950s Leonard Freed vintage. Furthermore, the two sisters who are the leads are a bit stiff physically (not natural dancers, I guess) and the entire movie, including their parts, is dubbed in later recordings, and it sounds and looks a bit odd. The 1960s were a rough time for feature movies everywhere, and this is struggling to create a paradigm that surpasses television and is rich and sparkling and perfect. The production values are high, for sure. But be prepared. It's a stiff, stilted narrative and the music is not overly memorable. Two large stakes driven into a somewhat stiff corpus. There's even a dance with a supposed basketball dance troupe. Oy.You know what? I think if you've gotten this far, watch the first ten minutes. You'll either barf or fall asleep or be really curious. It's a fair sample of the remaining two hours. Good luck!

Right after "Les parapluies de Cherbourg" delivered yet another fine musical movie. He must had not been ready with the genre yet and this time took a bit of a different approach.It's a more traditional musical, when compared to "Les parapluies de Cherbourg". It's cheerful, colorful, less heavy on the drama and features lots of choreographed dancing sequences and characters that burst into singing, right in the middle of a conversation. It's really a musical done in the trend of '40's and '50's Hollywood musicals.Jacques Demy probably had a big love or admiration for the genre, since it's not like the genre was still very popular or considered to be modern or very profitable at the time. It must had therefore also been a bit of a gamble to create a 1967 musical done in '40's style. But let me just say that it was a gamble that really payed off well!It are not just the characters, or its story, musical numbers or visual style that make this movie. It are all of these things combined! It forms a beautiful and joyful whole that really works on a musical level. The many characters of the movie are all great and likable ones. Its story is also quite original but above all things also cheerful, which can also be said about its bright and colorful visual style.Thing about its buildup and character are that you don't know who will end up with who. Usually this is of course something that is very clear, pretty much from the start on already. This is the beauty of the movie and is also what makes it a quite original one within its genre. It always keeps the story and love angles in it interesting and helps to make the characters and the movie as a whole also quite unpredictable, which is not something you could say about a lot of musicals.Its many songs do tend to make the movie drag a little at points. Maybe it's a bit overlong but every time you think that the movie is starting to take a wrong turn, it actually eventually will be something that works out beautifully and real surprising in the end. And talking about end, things really come together beautifully in the last few minutes of this movie. Every storyline gets wrapped up, which is a real accomplishment, considering the amount of characters this movie follows.It's not just a movie about the Garnier twins but also about their family, close friends and everyone they meet in their quest to find true love. That's what the movie is truly about really; love. Every character in this movie is basically looking for that. The ideas of true love, as presented in this movie, might come across as old fashioned now days but this of course still adds to the overall cheerful nature and charm of the movie. It's a kind of no-worries type of movie, that can make you feel really happy and warm when watching it, also thanks to its cheerful colors and songs.To make it all the more apparent that this is a sort of ode and love-letter to the musical genre of mostly the '40's and '50's, the movie features one of the biggest musical stars of those days; Gene Kelly. Even while he was already well in his 50's, it doesn't stop him to still look as young as ever and he even does some of his characteristic dancing in this one. Yes, he's even speaking French, though in some scene's he still got obviously dubbed, most notably when he's singing. Next to him the movie is also featuring Catherine Deneuve, who also was the main star in Jacques Demy's 'other' well known musical "Les parapluies de Cherbourg".He didn't do all of the directing alone on this one though. This time his wife Agnès Varda joined in, who already was an established director on her own at the time.Even though I'm not the biggest fan of the musical genre, I can still appreciate and enjoy a good genre movie when I see one. And this is really one of those!9/10 http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

This French musical inspired, I'm sure, by the American M-G-M musicals (with Gene Kelly's presence being possible evidence of that) takes a while but once you get into the dances and mostly dubbed singing (Danielle Darrieux excepted) the rest of the story and picture takes you to a realm that seems out of this world. The lead twin sisters Solange and Delphine, played by real-life sibs Francoise Dorleac and Catherine Deneuve, provide much of the appeal for me as they appear in various glamorous costumes-and in one scene wigs-for their very appealing numbers with music provided by Michel Legrand (who actually gets referenced in a number!). Ms. Darrieux is also very appealing as their mother, Yvonne. Nice to see West Side Story performer George Chakiris dancing as one of the two male leads and finally see Kelly actually doing his steps in actual French streets as opposed to the studio backlots in An American in Paris (though it's a shame that part of his dialogue is dubbed since it's so obvious when that happens). His charm as a dancer is still evident even when doing simple steps and his pairing with Ms. Dorleac brings some romantic sizzle to the proceedings. And the many coincidences and missed opportunities that abound bring such delicious irony to the possible inevitable happy endings that make dreamers be glad to dream what they dream. In summary, The Young Girls of Rochefort is an American musical-inspired French delight! P.S. I realized I had to change screen sizes in the middle of this movie when I found some of the subtitles were obviously not on screen. So I watched the beginning all over again to get the full treatment and I'm so glad I did!