The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967)

 

Genre: Musical/ Romance 

Time: 2h

Director: Jacques Demy

Quick Summary: Delphine and Solange, twin sisters, are in search of love. In the pursuit of their happiness and goals, they encounter interesting men and circumstances.

Exploding with a beautiful pastel colour palette, this musical explores themes of regret and love and stretches the themes of musicals to their limit. 

Everyone breaks into song seemingly whenever they want though, it never seems out of place. The songs are catchy, and the choreography that goes along is stunning. Everything and everyone is so full of joy, yet they are so dissatisfied with life. The juxtaposition works so well though, it doesn't ever clash. It creates a sense of hope and becomes dreamy as the characters prance around singing about what they wish for in life. 

Where this film fails a bit is that it is predictable too quickly, you can see which characters will eventually end up together, or what will happen to them by the end. The script isn't all that complex either. Though, that is made up by the incredible acting done by the whole cast.

What I love about this, is that even though this has every trope a musical could have, Jacques Demy managed to create something so wonderfully original, and I have never seen something so joyous but melancholy. A trope I love in this is that the right people will always be brought together, even if they had gone their separate ways beforehand. 

There are a couple of different plots going on that flow so smoothly, intermingling with each one in clever ways. They never intrude on each other, allowing plenty of time for each to develop properly. It's fun to watch everyone float around so happily, exploding in passion whilst we watch our characters express their life dreams. You're rooting for good things to happen to them, and it's a wonderful experience to watch as they eventually get to them.

This film is full of symmetrical shots, and characters will often appear to directly address the camera. Characters in the background can often be seen dancing, and sometimes they’ll spontaneously add accents to the main characters’ musical numbers. Some people in Rochefort are dressed normally, and others wear monochromatic costumes decorated with streaming ribbons. Visually is very enjoyable to watch and I really appreciate how much love went into this film. It is admirable, to see all this passion on screen.

This film lives as a fantasy, an attempt to create joy and be weightless for a time. It shows how important expression can be and more importantly having the drive to do something with your life; you can be somewhere you might not want to be in life but still be gleeful at the moment; and that good things happen eventually to those who wait. Full of colour, music and dance, it's an explosion of art and passion. I 100% recommend this film.

9/10

"I must steer clear of dreary bourgeoisie art, I must be avant-garde and paint what's in my heart."

"Bill : You're quite pretty.

Delphine : So I've been told."

"Guillaume Lancien : I love you and that fills me with pride and craving, since I want you."