The Young Girls of Rochefort (1968)

Good movie but grossly overrated

Good concept, poorly executed.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

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/

If you like musicals and if you find the 60's enchanting than do not look further than this classic French number.The costumes are fantastically colourful full of pastels the style unmistakable, Hats are worn by both men and women... a different era, the characters even the meanies are charming it all sounds a bit whimsical but trust me it has humour as well as romance by the bag full.Solange and Delphine transport us in a universe where Love is all around and beats to the sounds of cool Legrand beats,the Master Jazz composer of this musical. Actors such as Michel Piccoli only ever seen singing and acting simultaneously in this film, adds a bit more depth to this cinematic sensation. Not that it's lightness should be taken for fluffiness, if you scratch the script a little you will notice hints of modernity, it is a musical that goes where not even Grease goes in terms of language and Les Demoiselles de Rochefort was made nearly 20 years earlier...The film has pinches of realism in this simple tell of 2 twin sisters looking for love in the city of Rochefort in 60's France of that you can be certain.I recommend this movie for 2 reasons. First the music, intoxicating Jazz numbers, American influenced yet continental texts, modern fluid dancing and singing...and the second reason is the story although simple it is punctuated by the arrival of meanies such as "les forins" or "Guillaume", even old man "DutrouZ" with a Z, hides something... for 90 minutes the viewer is projected into a family business a family a modern one so a little disjointed and controversial...and all this in the language of Moliere...rent it...buy it...whatever you do try and catch the Demoiselles de Rochefort you will smile all the more for it !

Suspending belief and just settling back to enjoy and laugh at the high camp of this unusual musical film is a pre-requisite.Suspending, indeed, is the way the film starts and ends, with the travelling players and their vehicles travelling on the Rochefort-Martrou Transporter Bridge built 1898-1900; only about twenty of these unusual bridges were built worldwide, and half survive with some still in use. This bridge was refurbished in 1994 and is in use in the summer months. Suspending might, too, have been the end for the axe-murderer, but we are not told.The French Navy school, the home for the many sailors seen in the film, was Le Centre Ecole de l'Aéronautique Navale (CEAN). No more sailors like Maxence, and no more sailors' hats with their red pompons though, as the French Navy pulled out of Rochefort by 2002 after a presence that had lasted 336 years. The ribbon on the sailors' hats reads EN ROCHEFORT - Ecole Navale Rochefort.The primary colours of the film are a defining aspect and the sunshine helps enormously; who would not want to visit Rochefort for a holiday? The Mayor will be very happy with the film's being shown again to a new generation at London's British Film Institute.With dancing sailors and young, lithe dancers, the different groups wearing matching clothes, the film is very high camp and will have some appeal to a gay audience for sure!The whole is colourful froth and pretty harmless fun.

We loved this movie so much we went to visit the town of Rochefort. Stars from French and American cinema do wonderful work in the movie - Catherine Deneuve, Francoise Dorleac, Gene Kelly, George Chakiris, Danielle Darrieux, and Michel Piccoli. The version now available from Netflix is beautiful and has fine sound, but we noticed one song had been deleted that was in the version we saw 10 or 15 years ago. As for Rochefort, it's a nice place to visit, on the coast halfway between Bordeaux and Nantes. The remarkable "transbordeur" bridge shown in the opening and closing scenes has been restored for operation as a tourist feature.