Of Rochefort -1967- Criterion -...: The Young Girls
The 4K digital restoration restores the film's original color timing. The pinks are aggressively vibrant, the whites are crisp, and the audio transfer preserves the rich, multi-layered depth of Legrand’s orchestration without the tinny distortion common in older releases.
Demy structures the film around the theme of "near misses." Characters miss each other by mere seconds, walking through doors just as the other turns the corner. This creates a playful, bittersweet tension where destiny is always just a heartbeat away. A Perfect Production: The Legrand and Kelly Connection
: A feature-length 1993 documentary by Agnès Varda (Demy’s widow). It revisits the town of Rochefort for the film's 25th anniversary, featuring interviews with stars like Catherine Deneuve and behind-the-scenes stories from the production. Behind the Screen
Jacques Demy Starring: Françoise Dorléac, Catherine Deneuve, Gene Kelly, Michel Piccoli, and George Chakiris. Available on: The Criterion Collection The Young Girls of Rochefort -1967- Criterion -...
The documentary The Young Girls Turn 25 (1993) is essential—it catches up with the town of Rochefort, which hated the film crew but now throws an annual festival in Demy’s honor. Also, the interview with composer Michel Legrand reveals he wrote the overture overnight. Overnight. While smoking. The man was a machine.
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 Young Girls of Rochefort has seen a resurgence in appreciation, often cited as a major influence on modern musicals, including Damien Chazelle’s La La Land . It is celebrated for its "total cinema" approach—where choreography, music, color, and story are completely intertwined. The 4K digital restoration restores the film's original
One of the film’s greatest curiosities is the presence of Gene Kelly. By 1967, Kelly was a god of MGM musicals. His casting was a strategic move by Demy, who wanted to pay homage to Singin’ in the Rain and An American in Paris . Kelly plays Andy Miller, a frustrated composer who drives a boat-shaped Cadillac.
One of the most remarkable aspects of The Young Girls of Rochefort , thoroughly highlighted in the Criterion supplemental materials, is Demy’s refusal to shoot the movie on a Hollywood backlot. Instead, he and his production designer, Bernard Evein, took over the actual town of Rochefort.
The restoration process involved a painstaking review of the original materials, careful digital cleanup, and a thorough color grading process to ensure that the film's original color palette and visual aesthetic are preserved. The result is a viewing experience that feels both nostalgic and contemporary. This creates a playful, bittersweet tension where destiny
First-time viewers are often thrown by the film’s subplot: a murder mystery involving a traveling salesman and an art dealer. Why, in a candy-colored musical, does Demy include a severed head in a suitcase?
: Part two of a 1966 six-part Belgian television series about the film's production. It includes rare footage of rehearsals, set construction, and production designer Bernard Evein discussing his vibrant pastel aesthetics. Archival Interview (1966)
: 40,000 square meters of shutters and facades were repainted in pink, blue, and yellow.
and a comprehensive suite of historical and retrospective supplements The Criterion Collection Criterion Special Features
Both sisters feel suffocated by provincial life and dream of relocating to Paris to find artistic freedom and true love. When a traveling carnival rolls into the town square, it brings a colorful convoy of trucks, dancers, and sailors, accelerating a whirlwind of romantic near-misses.
