The Young Girls of Rochefort
(Les Demoiselles de Rochefort)
Screening on Film
Directed by Jacques Demy.
With Catherine Deneuve, Françoise Dorléac, Gene Kelly.
France, 1967, 35mm, color, 126 min.
French with English subtitles.
With Catherine Deneuve, Françoise Dorléac, Gene Kelly.
France, 1967, 35mm, color, 126 min.
French with English subtitles.
The Young Girls of Rochefort is Jacques Demy's follow-up to The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Filmed in Necco Wafer pastels by Umbrellas cinematographer Ghislain Cloquet, the film follows two fraternal twins (real-life sisters Catherine Deneuve and Françoise Dorléac) as they pine for love and the excitement of Paris. From its use of American musical stars Gene Kelly (who even at fifty-six can dance everyone else under the table) and George Chakiris to its final musical number, "Chantez l'Amour! Dansez le Joie!" (with Deneuve and Dorléac decked out in red sequins à la Russell and Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes) The Young Girls of Rochefort is a carefree tribute to the classic Hollywood musical.