Les demoiselles de Rochefort (1966) by Jacques Demy, is a joyful French musical and an up-beat celebration of life in a small town. Pulsating with life and humour, the film features Catherine Deneuve and Francoise Dorléac, who play twin sisters living in the town of Rochefort, as well as Gene Kelly. In 1966, Agnès Varda followed her husband Jacques Demy during the shooting of this film. In 1992, the City of Rochefort organised a grand party to celebrate 25 years of the “Demoiselles”. Editing together images of the two summers, of a celebration of cinema and of a celebration to honour cinema, Agnès Varda has made a documentary as only she can: colourful, amusing and bit melancholic. |
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We meet the people from Rochefort again: friends of the film, actors and characters from the film, who meanwhile have all grown older, like the lime trees in the Place Colbert. We are witnessing how a joyful film is made. “The memory of happiness, is maybe more than happiness” (Agnès Varda). With Catherine Deneuve, Jacques Perrin, Bertrand Tavernier and Michel Legrand.
EXTRA: Tuesday June 16 at 19.15, the Filmmuseum will screen the film that inspired this documentary: Les demoiselles de Rochefort (1966) by Jacques Demy. |
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The Young Girls Turn 25
France, 1993, 64min. 35mm
Language: French. Subtitles: English
Crew
Screenplay: Agnès Varda
Cinematography: Alexandre Auffort, Stéphane Krausz, Patrick Mounoud, Georges Strouvé, Agnès Varda
Sound: Thierry Ferreux, Jean-Luc Rault-Cheynet, Bernard Seidler
Production: Agnès Varda for Ciné Tamaris
Director
Varda was born Arlette Varda 1928 in Brussels, Belgium. She studied Art History at the Ecole du Louvre and worked as a photographer before moving into film. Despite similarities to the French New Wave, films by Varda belonged more precisely to the Rive Gauche movement, along with Chris Marker, Alain Resnais, Marguerite Duras a.o. Agnès Varda was married to film director Jacques Demy from 1962 until his death in 1990. |