Girls Of Rochefort -1967- Criterion -... — The Young

The Criterion Collection has done more than preserve a film; they have preserved a specific frequency of happiness. To watch this restored version is to understand why Jacques Demy is a saint to directors from Damien Chazelle ( La La Land owes this film its entire color palette) to Wes Anderson.

Twin sisters Delphine (Catherine Deneuve) and Solange (Françoise Dorléac, Deneuve’s real-life sister, in their only film together) teach dance and music in a sleepy port town. They dream of escaping to Paris for love and fame. Meanwhile, a murder has occurred somewhere off-screen, a sailor named Maxence (Jacques Perrin) paints the Ideal Woman he’s never met, and Gene Kelly shows up speaking dubbed French, tap-dancing like he just wandered in from 1952. Everyone is looking for a perfect lover they’ve glimpsed once. No one looks in the right place. The Young Girls of Rochefort -1967- Criterion -...

By 1967, Kelly’s star in Hollywood had waned. Demy, an obsessive fan of Singin’ in the Rain , wrote a role specifically for him: Andy, the American composer passing through Rochefort. Kelly, fluent in French, performs his own dubbing and choreographs his own solo number. The Criterion Collection has done more than preserve

The Criterion Collection edition is the definitive way to experience the film. Key features usually included in their releases are: They dream of escaping to Paris for love and fame

(1967) is director Jacques Demy’s effervescent masterpiece, a candy-colored tribute to the Golden Age of Hollywood musicals. Released by The Criterion Collection as spine #717, this high-definition restoration breathes new life into the film’s iconic pastel palette and jazz-infused score, solidifying its place as a cornerstone of French cinema.

and archival interviews with composer Michel Legrand. Learn more about this release at The Criterion Collection

The Criterion Collection release restores the film to its original Technicolor glory, stripping away years of faded prints to reveal the bold palette Demy intended. The audio is crisp, allowing Legrand’s complex orchestrations to breathe. The release typically includes essential supplements, such as archival interviews with Demy and Legrand, a documentary on the making of the film, and discussions on the film’s restoration, providing context for the labor of love that preserved this masterpiece.