If you’d like, I can expand this into a longer essay, a scene-by-scene analysis, or a piece focused on Legrand’s score or Demy’s visual style. Which would you prefer?
shines as Andy Miller, a charming American dancer who finds love in a small French town, bringing his classic MGM energy to Demy's whimsical world.
But owning the edition is different from streaming it on Max or Kanopy. Physical media forces you to sit with the film. You read the liner notes. You watch the 4k scan of the original French poster. You slow down to 24 frames per second.
No discussion of Rochefort is complete without the elephant in the soundstage: Gene Kelly. The Young Girls of Rochefort -1967- Criterion -...
Following the massive international success of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964), Demy wanted to expand his canvas. Where Umbrellas was a somber, completely sung "pop-opera," Rochefort was envisioned as a traditional Hollywood tribute—complete with spoken dialogue, soaring dance numbers, and an overwhelming sense of optimism.
Criterion’s two-disc edition offers deep dives for cinephiles:
So, pour a pastis, turn up the Michel Legrand soundtrack, and prepare to be blinded by the light of Rochefort. You will leave with the "Chanson des Jumelles" stuck in your head for a week. And you won’t mind at all. If you’d like, I can expand this into
The town is simultaneously descended upon by a traveling carnival troupe led by Étienne (George Chakiris) and Bill (Grover Dale), who inject the streets with athletic jazz choreography. Meanwhile, a sailor and painter named Maxence (Jacques Perrin) wanders the cafes searching for his "feminine ideal," unaware that his dream woman is Delphine.
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.
Their mother, Yvonne (Danielle Darrieux), runs a glass-walled café in the center of the square. She harbors her own regrets about a lost love, Simon Dame (Michel Piccoli), whose name she rejected because she refused to be called "Madame Dame." But owning the edition is different from streaming
Discussions with Michel Legrand about composing the complex, jazz-infused score. Legacy and Influence
The restoration process was painstaking. Using a wet-gate scanner to minimize damage to the original nitrate elements, colorists referenced Demy’s own production notes, costume swatches, and the original 1967 release prints. The result is revelatory: Delphine’s (Catherine Deneuve) auburn hair now burns with nuance, and the twin pastel pinks and blues of the portside façades are no longer muddy but distinct, creating a deliberate visual rhyme with the film’s score. Criterion’s Blu-ray presents the film in its original 1.66:1 aspect ratio, preserving the intimate yet expansive compositions of cinematographer Ghislain Cloquet.
Criterion is famous for its “extras,” and the disc is a treasure trove.
While The Young Girls of Rochefort is often celebrated as the ultimate "feel-good" movie, Demy subtly laces the background with real-world anxieties. The town is filled with military police, a quiet nod to the lingering tensions of the Algerian War and the global Cold War climate of the late 1960s.
The colors are vivid, offering a "candy-colored" viewing experience 1.2.3 .