Donkey Skin (1970)

Donkey Skin takes the unique world of Jacques Demy and steps it up a couple of notches. The story is based off a fairy tale and brims with all the necessary trappings accented by the French director's own flourishes.

Once again the music is supplied by Michel Legrande and the songs are a mix of playfully fun and sometimes solemn songs that help dictate the path the story takes. As far as the tale itself goes it revolves around a beautiful princess who sends herself into a forced exile wearing a donkey skin. It all sounds rather odd, but she is given the idea from her fairy godmother, in order to keep her father from marrying the princess.

The world is a fanciful array of gaudy fake interiors, blue people, red horses, a treasure-dropping donkey, oddly-masked creatures, a talking parrot, princesses, princes, and some rather alarming potential incest. This is no Disney endeavor by any means and its bright colors often call to mind the Hippy culture.

Into this land the princess flees covered in her donkey skin and takes on the lowly role of a scullery maid where she is belittled and looked down upon. However, a glum young prince happens upon her in all her beauty and wants nothing more than to marry her. In fact, he plays sick just so he can be with his gorgeous vision. Instead of Cinderella's slipper, this story deals with a ring which is only to fit the finger of his true love. A whole to do is made out of it with people coming from far and wide. However, the prince already knows who he wishes to wear it, after all it came in a cake that Donkey Skin baked for him.

In the end this fairy tale receives the happy denouement that is expected with plenty of riches and love for all. The film used simple but nonetheless mesmerizing special effects that add a touch of magic to this tale. It also gets book ended by some obligatory narration ending a enchanting fairy story fit for children, mothers, grandmas and anyone else who is willing to partake. Although not as memorable as his earlier musicals, it seems that Donkey Skin sees Jacques Demy at his fully realized creative powers in a way that is uniquely his and fits with many of the trademarks he developed earlier. Furthermore, Catherine Denueve proved that she is beautiful even wearing a donkey skin hoodie. It's hard to say no to a movie with her in it no matter the topic.

3.5/5 Stars

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)

It is hard to remember a time when I was so devastatingly sad due to a film and it does not leave a deep hurt but a far more wistful despondency that is far more real. But that's enough misery for the time being. Directed by Jacques Demy and starring a exquisitely young Catherine Deneuve, this cinematic opera is a moving musical piece that looks to be conventional and turns out to be quite the opposite. 

The story begins in November of 1957 with a young mechanic named Guy (Nino Casteinuovo) who is deeply in love with the beautiful 16 year old Genevieve (Deneuve). Guy cares a great deal for his godmother Elise who has a caregiver to look after her. Genevieve helps out her mother in running a small umbrellas shop in Cherbourg which allows them to scrape by. They must sell some family heirlooms to a kindly jeweler who is smitten with Genevieve. However, Genievieve and Guy have plans of marriage until Guy learns suddenly that he has been drafted for the war in Algieria. They spend their last hours together and she vows to wait for his return. 

In the following months it becomes evident that Genevieve is pregnant, but her mother tells her that Guy has probably forgotten her already. The jeweler, Roland Cassard (Marc Michel), professes his love for Genevieve and agrees to adopt her unborn child. Thus, partially on the urging of her mother Genevieve accepts his proposal and they are soon married leaving Cherbourg for good. 

Finally, Guy returns from the war and things have changed. He now has a limp and is fed up with his old work at the garage. Furthermore, the Umbrellas shop is sold and Geneivieve is wed and gone. Adding insult to injury his godmother soon passes away. With no one else to turn to he looks to the caretaker Madeleine, and he realizes her love for him. They get married and he turns his life around with her help. 

The years pass, and now during Christmas of 1963 a car pulls into Guy’s new gas station. After many years the two former lovers come face to face once mroe. Now they have marriages and children, and their interactions are painfully aloof. They have moved on with their lives and they have moved on from their passionate romance. 

True, their lives have become sensible, but in this opera that Demy has constructed, this conclusion is sad and bittersweet. And yet if this were the only painful moment that would be one thing, but there are so many that touch the heart and move the viewer. When Guy goes off to the army and takes off on the train we can feel the great anguish. More often than not you can read the sadness on the face of these characters which complement the beautiful ballads they utter. In other words it's one thing to recount the plot and quite another to watch the events unfold.

I have to say that I had never seen a film that played out entirely through song and even in the opening sequence Demy consciously melds the diverse forms of film and opera. Umbrellas has the vibrancy and color of movies and takes the dramatic story line and songs of opera to create a unique piece of musical art complete with acts and all. Its colors are bright and vibrant--utterly distinct in their composition. Everything from the bikes to the umbrellas and even back alleyways are beautiful. Although there are many beautiful melodies rather surprisingly there is not one song that stands out (Well, maybe the theme), but instead it plays rather like one continuous song with different sections and overtures that complement but do not overshadow each other.  


Demy's earlier film Lola also gives interesting insight into the character of Roland Cassard who once again becomes acquainted with a mother and her daughter in a shop. This time around he has accomplished his dream of traveling the world as a diamond merchant, however, Lola is still heavy on his heart. Another thing that is remarkable about the film is the weather which in many ways plays as another character. The varying degrees of rain and snow dictate the mood and shift with the changing seasons. There's no doubt that Jacques Demy and his collaborator Michel Legrand created something special here that elevates the musical to a heartfelt tragedy of romance. That's something many men would not be brave enough to do. 

4.5/5 Stars

Repulsion (1965)

Directed by Roman Polanski and starring Catherine Deneuve, this British Psychological thriller is in the same vain as Psycho. Carol is a manicurist who is often absent-minded at work and she returns home to an apartment that she shares with her older sister. She passively resists the advances of an infatuated young man and at home she must live through her sister and a boyfriend in the next room. 

*May Contain Spoilers
Then, they leave and an attached Carol cannot bear her sister to leave her alone. The next days and weeks she sinks into a unstable state and slowly loses her sanity while losing track of reality at the same time. She is sent home from work, becomes even more preoccupied, and then begins hallucinating back in her home. When Colin comes to speak with her she is still unresponsive and she unexpectedly bludgeons him to death. Then, later on the annoyed landlord comes by for his money, and then makes advances on her, only to be killed by a frightened Carol. Helen and her boyfriend return to find the apartment in disarray and Carol out of sorts and concerned neighbors come to spectate. The camera closes in on a family photo and a young Carol’s perturbing face. 

This low budget documentary grade black and white film still packs a powerful punch and the best word to describe it is probably disconcerting. Unfortunately, I had never heard of the cinematographer Gilbert Taylor, but he had several wonderful films in his catalog including Dr. Strangelove, A Hard Day’s Night, Star Wars, and of course Repulsion.

4/5 Stars

The Best Films of Catherine Deneuve

1. Belle de Jour
2. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
3. The Young Girls of Rochefort
4. Repulsion
5. Tristana
6. Persepolis
7. The Last Metro
8. Dancer in the Dark
9. A Christmas Tale
10. Mississippi Mermaid

The Last Metro (1980)

Directed by Francois Truffaut and starring Catherine Denueve and Gerard Depardieu, the film opens with the very French sounding love song Mon amant de Sant Jean playing over the credits. We find ourselves in occupied France during WWII where a little theater is struggling to stay open. The  famed Jewish director Lucas Steiner has been forced to flee from the Nazis although in reality he is actually hiding in the cellar of the theater. In his absence his wife Marion has taken up his role of running the theater while also continuing to act. Early on we are introduced to the young actor Bernard who is chosen to play one of the new roles in the upcoming production. At the same time Marion must try and acquire the permit to stay open from a man whom she despises, the art critic Daxiat, who has anti-Semitic beliefs. They do stay open however, and with the director’s notes of Lucas they prepare their show and open to great success. Many of the French come to their shows as an escape before they take the Last Metro home. However, at their performance Daxiat gives them a harsh review and it angers Bernard. His actions ultimately jeopardize the theater and as a result his relations with Marion become strained. As if that were not enough some Gestapo come to the theater searching for Lucas and they must rush to hide him. Needless to say the film ends on a positive note but the film is not so much about resistance against the Nazis compared to the struggles of a theater to survive. Denueve gives a moving performance and although this is not Truffaut’s best, it is admirable. As the audience, not only do we watch a movie, but we watch the play within the movie and then the drama behind the play, so Truffaut  takes us a little deeper.

4/5 Stars