The Young Girls of Rochefort (Les Demoiselles de Rochefort) (1968)
91%RT Audience Score: 84%
Awards & Nominations: NA
The Young Girls of Rochefort pays colorful homage to classic Hollywood musicals while earning its own emotionally affecting place of honor in the genre.
The Young Girls of Rochefort is like a rainbow sherbet explosion on the big screen! This French musical is a delightful homage to Hollywood musicals, complete with impressive dancing, dazzling costumes, and catchy pop songs that will have you tapping your toes. Sure, it may be a bit sentimental at times, but who cares when you’re swept up in the euphoric swirl of colors and music? Plus, the ending is so oblique that it even influenced La La Land. So, grab some popcorn and get ready to be swept off your feet by this charming and whimsical film.
Production Company(ies)
Walt Disney Pictures, Lin Pictures, Rideback
Distributor
Miramax Films, Miramax Zoë, Warner Bros., Miramax Home Entertainment [us]
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
Rochefort, Charente- Maritime, France
MPAA / Certificate
G
Year of Release
1968
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:2.35 : 1
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Runtime:2h 5m
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Language(s):French, English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Mar 8, 1967 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 22, 2014
Genre(s)
Musical/Romance
Keyword(s)
starring Catherine Deneuve, Françoise Dorléac, Gene Kelly, George Chakiris, Grover Dale, Jacques Perrin, Danielle Darrieux, directed by Jacques Demy, Agnès Varda, written by Jacques Demy, Julian More, musical, romance, G rating, box office gross $88.5K, reviewed by Carey Harrison, Melissa Anderson, Keith Uhlich, Edward Porter, Derek Malcolm, Patrick Peters, Matt Brunson, Robert Kotlowitz, David Harris, Rachel Wagner, Sean Axmaker, James Plath, produced by Perrine Bauduin, Gilbert de Goldschmidt
Worldwide gross: $98,221
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $946,091
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,610
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 103,172
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Françoise Dorléac – Solange Garnier
Gene Kelly – Andy Miller
George Chakiris – Etienne
Grover Dale – Bill
Jacques Perrin – Maxence
Director(s)
Jacques Demy, Agnès Varda
Writer(s)
Jacques Demy, Julian More
Producer(s)
Perrine Bauduin, Gilbert de Goldschmidt
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
NA
Academy Awards
All Critics (45) | Top Critics (17) | Fresh (44) | Rotten (1)
It must be allowed that [Jacques] Demy is an habitual offender on the count of sentimentality… yet he is capable of a tender, unsentimenial euphoria more intoxicating than any other film work in the field of sentimental farce.
March 19, 2020
Carey Harrison
Sight & Sound
TOP CRITIC
A euphoric swirl of sherbet colors, Jacques Demy’s Hollywood-musical homage The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967) elevates even the most mundane actions to the spectacular …
April 8, 2014
Melissa Anderson
Village Voice
TOP CRITIC
Despite the consistently sprightly surface, there’s a somber undercurrent that lingers even when love triumphs and the music swells.
April 8, 2014 | Rating: 5/5
Keith Uhlich
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
The fondant-fancy colours make the film all the more escapist, yet some pop songs can pierce you to the core.
August 17, 2009 | Rating: 4/5
Edward Porter
Times (UK)
TOP CRITIC
The result is uncommonly pleasing or defiantly twee: take your choice.
August 17, 2009 | Rating: 4/5
Derek Malcolm
London Evening Standard
TOP CRITIC
An intriguing mix of French New Wave and Hollywood Musical, this still succeeds in sweeping you off your feet.
August 14, 2009 | Rating: 4/5
Patrick Peters
Empire Magazine
TOP CRITIC
It bypasses the more intimate style of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg to pay homage to splashy Hollywood musicals.
April 10, 2022 | Rating: 3/4
Matt Brunson
Film Frenzy
This follow-up to The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is the French at their least charming, being a nearly unbearably coy Gallic imitation of an MGM musical dating from the heyday of Gene Kelly.
August 4, 2020
Robert Kotlowitz
Harper’s Magazine
Life’s regrets aren’t often the basis of a movie musical, yet French director Jacques Demy is best known for his two films that fit that exact description.
September 30, 2019
David Harris
Spectrum Culture
They have very impressive dancing throughout and all the costumes and colors are so dazzling.
February 26, 2019 | Rating: 9/10
Rachel Wagner
rachelsreviews.net
From its opening jazzy dance on a ferry, which becomes a veritable magic carpet floating above a sparkling river before the scene is over, it’s a delight.
March 2, 2018
Sean Axmaker
Stream on Demand
If Hollywood is the dream factory, Demy’s The Young Girls of Rochefort is one heck of a factory knock-off. And being French, it has an oblique ending that also seems to have influenced [La La Land].
January 16, 2018 | Rating: 8/10
James Plath
PopMatters…
Plot
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.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Gene Kelly sings and dances in French in The Young Girls of Rochefort.
Jacques-Demy.jpg
