Young Girls of Rochefort, The (1967)

Director: Jacques Demy
Stars: Catherine Deneuve, Françoise Dorléac, George Chakiris
Runtime: 125 minutes

Synopsis: Two sisters leave their small seaside town of Rochefort in search of romance. Hired as carnival singers, one falls for an American musician, while the other must search for her ideal partner.

Verdict: Following a vibrant stop at Cherbourg where I was introduced to Jacques Demy’s work, I immediately booked myself a ticket to Rochefort, the little French town in which the events of his following film take place. Starring once again the wonderful Catherine Deneuve alongside her real-life sister Françoise Dorléac (who tragically passed away only a few months after the film’s release), many similarities can be drawn to Demy’s “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg”, most notably in the film’s presentation. “The Young Girls of Cherbourg” is also filled to the brim with colors and music, all of which contributed to turning the setting into a reflection of the film’s ambiance. The addition of ambitious choreographed dance sequences made the watch an even gayer one, as it injected in it an energy that wasn’t found in its predecessor.

But despite the obvious resemblances between the two classics, “The Young Girls of Rochefort” very much comes off as the antithesis of “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg”. Both are at their very cores romances instrumented by fate, and the fundamental difference between the two musicals is, without spoiling anything, the exaggerated role of the latter in these love stories. Rochefort is very much the yang to Cherbourg's yin, making the movies ones that perfectly complement one another as well.

And if this wasn't enough reason to give the film a chance, we are treated to a delicious cameo from Agnès Varda in it. I can now clearly see why Damien Chazelle mentioned this duology as his inspiration for "La La Land", which I'll now think of as being the love child of Rochefort and Cherbourg. Jacques Demy has quickly climbed his way up my list of favorite filmmakers and, even though I can now say that I have seen his most famous projects, I can't wait to delve deeper into his filmography.

FINAL GRADE: 9/10