lasttimeisaw
Jacques Demy's fourth picture, a pendant musical to his previous sing-song delicacy THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG (1964), real-life siblings Deneuve and Dorléac (who would ill-fatedly perish in a car accident in the mid-1967), play two non-identical twin sisters Solange (Dorléac) and Delphine (Deneuve), lap up their last weekend in their seaside hometown Rochefort , where a fair is scheduled, before take off to pursue their dreams in Paris. The opening musical number invitingly takes place on a ferry bridge, a novelty to the eyes of this reviewer, and introduces us two dashing carnies Étienne (Chakiris) and Bill (Dale), arriving for the weekend fair, who soon will be both jilted by their sailor-smitten dancing partners and seek succor to the twins. The hub where the movie's main characters hanging around is the glass-built café in the main town square, owned by the Yvonne (Darrieux, the legendary French cinema icon is the only one in the cast whose singing voice is not dubbed), the mother of Solange and Delphine, she meets a demobbed navy sailor Maxence (Perrin), who is a self-acknowledged poet-cum-painter, sentimentally looking for the ideal female, which unbeknownst to both, is actually Delphine, an uncanny undertow of how Maxence could draw a portrait of Delphine even without knowing her never really takes off, not to mention one of Yvonne's clientele is a grisly murderer, yes, in Demy's caprice, homicide and dismemberment are all trivial fodder for laughter. The twins have their own hang-ups to sort out, Delphine is leaving her pontifical boyfriend, the gallery owner Guillaume (Riberolles), and is dangled to find out who is the painter of the portrait (not that she really puts any effort to it); Solange, a composer and pianist, chances upon a foreigner Andy Miller (Kelly, supple enough to meet the dancing requirements, but overtly too old for the role) in town, mutually swooned over each other, yet they are so swamped in this leisure town, that no time to even exchange their names since Andy is actually the American musician Solange is arranged to meet through Simon Dame (Piccoli), a lovelorn singleton pining for his former fiancé, who broke off their relationship a decade ago simply because his ridiculous name, who wants to be called Madame Dame? And guess who is the petulant quasi-Madame Dame? I will not spill the beans but it is really a freaking small world!The plot is quite convoluted on paper, but Demy plays it out puckishly and desultorily, punctuates it with dynamically choreographed set pieces and lip-syncing affectation, although the monotony of the saccharine ditties (sorry maestro Michael Legrand!) starts to pall literally after the duet A PAIR OF TWINS, a similar fate in CHERBOURG, but what makes ROCHFORT a shade more inferior is its innate deficiency of empathy and intrigue, even it is an unadulterated feel-gooder, Demy's coup- de-théâre is way too self-conscious and inundated with smooth-talking levity, all his characters are energetic and emotive outwardly, but cardboard and unstimulating through and through. Rochefort is decked out with a variegated Murano-esque enchantment, and all roles are bestowed with an impeccable and eye-catching dress sense, "charming" is high-lighted on its DVD cover, indeed, that's the apposite word for this chic confectionery, a praiseworthy endeavor notwithstanding, it is also too cheesy for a dispassionate stomach.
Framescourer
In many ways one is obliged to rank this film highly by virtue of its daring. As if The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg were not extraordinary enough - a through-sung musical, with a bittersweet story of provincial France rendered in in-camera Technicolour - then Les Demoiselles surely tops it. Not through-sung this time (there is spoken dialogue, though one stretch is spoken entirely in verse) there is more dance in its stead. The colour of the film is once again highly co-ordinated but heightened by the film shot almost entirely in bright sunlight. Finally, the perhaps predictable small-town love stories are fleshed out with a bizarre murder red herring and a well-controlled tension.On top of all this, the film has Gene Kelly. His smattering of appearances culminates in a formal set piece that simply assumes yo know what'll happen next and gets on with it, as if God himself had a cameo. Kelly is probably the only person in the world who might have upstaged Catherine Deneuve in a film at this time, and so it comes to pass. Even George Chakiris, the Puerto Rican prince so familiar from West Side Story, brings panache but can't eclipse the world's greatest movie-musical star.Michel Legrand's score is more varied though marginally less pungent than before. His music and the film works best when its fulfilling its camp or extrovert conviction - thought this doesn't extend to a diegetic set piece, where the girls do a Gentlemen Prefer Blondes-type routine.It's charming and baffling in one meringue-like trifle. The way to approach it is in exactly the manner that the film opens, floating into town on the Rochefort-Martrou Transporter Bridge. 7/10
Lester May
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.
