The Young Girls of Rochefort

Thank Heaven For "Young Girls." From the director of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg comes this delirious and exhilarating celebration of the Hollywood musical. Catherine Deneuve and her real-life sister Françoise Dorléac star as twin sisters Delphine and Solange, a pair of "carefree young things" who sing of being "bored with provincial things" and yearn for life in Paris ("We love catchy tunes, silly puns and repartee"). In fact, there's a whole lot of exquisite yearnin' going on here, from a sailor-poet-artist who sketches his "feminine ideal" (she bears an uncanny resemblance to Delphine) to the girls' mother, who ruefully recalls walking out on her lover because of his "silly name" (and who now, unbeknownst to her, owns a shop in Rochefort). Gene Kelly makes a memorable appearance as a visiting composer whose run-in with Solange is cause for dancing in the streets. This rediscovered '60s gem would no doubt be Austin Powers's favorite musical. Highly recommended. (K. Lee Benson)[Blu-ray/DVD Review—Apr. 18, 2017—Criterion, 126 min., in French w/English subtitles, not rated, DVD: 2 discs, $29.95; Blu-ray: $39.95—Making its latest appearance on DVD and second on Blu-ray, 1967's The Young Girls of Rochefort sports a great transfer and a DTS-HD 5.1 soundtrack on the Blu-ray release. Extras include “The Young Girls Turn 25” 1993 “making-of” documentary (67 min.), a behind-the-scenes featurette (35 min.), a 2014 conversation with Jacques Demy biographer Jean-Pierre Berthome and costume designer Jacqueline Moreau (26 min.), a 1966 French TV interview with director Demy and composer Michel Legrand (11 min.), and an essay by critic Jonathan Rosenbaum. Bottom line: this is the same edition as the one found in Criterion's The Essential Jacques Demy boxed set—which is highly recommended. If you don't plan on buying the set, you should pick up this key Demy musical.]