The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967)
"Les demoiselles de Rochefort" (original title)

Delphine and Solange are two sisters living in Rochefort. Delphine is a dancing teacher and Solange composes and teaches the piano. Maxence is a poet and a painter. He is doing his military... See full summary »

Director:

Jacques Demy

Writer:

Jacques Demy

Stars:

Catherine Deneuve, George Chakiris, Françoise Dorléac

Nominated for 1 Oscar.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Catherine Deneuve	...	Delphine Garnier
George Chakiris	...	Etienne
Françoise Dorléac	...	Solange Garnier (as Françoise Dorleac)
Jacques Perrin	...	Maxence
Michel Piccoli	...	Simon Dame
Jacques Riberolles	...	Guillaume Lancien
Grover Dale	...	Bill
Geneviève Thénier	...	Josette (as Geneviève Thenier)
Henri Crémieux	...	Subtil Dutrouz (as Henri Cremieux)
Pamela Hart	...	Judith
Leslie North	...	Esther
Patrick Jeantet	...	Boubou Garnier
Gene Kelly	...	Andy Miller
Danielle Darrieux	...	Yvonne Garnier
René Bazart	...	Pépé

Storyline

Delphine and Solange are two sisters living in Rochefort. Delphine is a dancing teacher and Solange composes and teaches the piano. Maxence is a poet and a painter. He is doing his military service. Simon owns a music shop, he left Paris once month ago to come back where he fell in love 10 years ago. They are looking for love, looking for each other, without being aware that their ideal partner is very close... A film whose scenario is much less important than its feeling of euphory, according to the director Jacques Demy.

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Plot Keywords:

love | twin | painter | piano | dance | 

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Taglines:

...they're Singing and Dancing in the Streets

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Musical | Romance

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French English

Release Date:

11 April 1968 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Young Girls of Rochefort

Filming Locations:

Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, France

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$9,907 (USA) (14 August 1998)

Gross:

$88,463 (USA) (25 September 1998)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Madeleine Films, Parc Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Danielle Darrieux is the only actor who actually sings for herself

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Goofs

In the dance sequences when Andy first arrives, the dancers are in full sun in the street but by the end the shadows have almost covered the entire width of the street.

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Quotes

[first lines]
[in French, using English subtitles]
Bill: Set up here?
Etienne: OK.
Bill: OK.

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Connections

References Children of Paradise (1945)

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Soundtracks

"Les Rencontres"
(uncredited)
Written by Michel Legrand
Courtesy of Warner Chappell Music France /BMG Publishing
Performed by (in appearance order) Françoise Dorléac (dubbed by Claude Parent),
Jacques Perrin (dubbed by Jacques Revaux), Gene Kelly (dubbed by Donald Burke),
, and Catherine Deneuve (dubbed by Anne Germain)

User Reviews

Two of a kind musical; Deeper than you think

'Girls of Rochefort' would amount to not much more than a mawkish, extremely sentimental film, if one only looked at the surface. But fortunately an original French New Waver made this (quite non-new-wavish) film and there's definitely more here if you care to look. Like its companion piece, the more popular 'Umbrellas of Cherbourg,' 'Girls of Rochefort' contains and exists to hint at and coelesce surprisingly hidden meanings behind the vulgarity and overstatement. Yes! Believe it or not these two films contain (much like the more obvious case of Jaques Tati's comedies) in their style, some of the deepest and I believe quite intentional (judging by the absolutely systematic understated style of Demy's first film 'Lola' which magnificently proves he can handle that 'understatement business' whenever it suits him) criticism of petty bourgeois values ever put on film. As for Legrand's music, it is sometimes great, sometimes extremely annoying to the point of nausea. Whether or not it was intended to actually do what it does in fact do--make the general public like it at its face and the 'artsy' people disgusted to a certain point, so they can imagine they're seeing Marxist criticism in it--will of course determine Demy's stature as either a premeditated master of cinema or a master in retrospect. Either way, mastery is the name of the game, and like the best American musicals these two flicks lend themselves to quite a bit of welcome ambiguity. As for purely visual delights: where else can you see both Francoise Dorleac and younger sister Catherine Deneauve,in their prime, blessing the screen simultaneously with their exquisite beauty?