The Young Girls Of Rochefort -1967- Criterion -... (2025)

Released on Blu-ray and DVD, the Criterion edition features a 4K digital restoration (supervised by cinematographer Jean Rabier before his passing). The difference is staggering. Rabier shot the film in Eastmancolor, a stock notoriously difficult to preserve. On older transfers, the pastels of Rochefort’s town square looked sickly. On the Criterion transfer, however, the oranges are electric, the turquoises are deep, and the primary reds of the twins’ wardrobe pop with three-dimensional depth.

Michel Legrand’s iconic jazz score is presented in a way that captures every nuance of the orchestration.

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Unlike its predecessor, where every line of dialogue is sung in recitative, Rochefort utilizes a more traditional musical structure—spoken dialogue intercut with elaborate song-and-dance numbers. Yet, Demy’s signature touch remains: the colors are hyper-saturated, the romance is destined, and the melancholy of missed connections lingers just beneath the surface of the brightest smile.

Jacques Demy Starring: Françoise Dorléac, Catherine Deneuve, Gene Kelly, Michel Piccoli, and George Chakiris Label: The Criterion Collection Released on Blu-ray and DVD, the Criterion edition

A beautiful retrospective documentary directed by Demy’s widow, the legendary Agnès Varda. It explores the making of the film and its lasting impact on the town of Rochefort.

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. On older transfers, the pastels of Rochefort’s town

However, Demy does not merely copy Hollywood; he subverts it. Unlike the sanitized worlds of MGM musicals, Rochefort exists in a reality where characters discuss real-world politics, casual flings, and even a bizarre subplot involving a local axe murderer. This juxtaposition of grim reality with candy-colored musical numbers gives the film its unique, inimitable texture. The Legendary Legacies: Legrand, Deneuve, and Dorléac

Demy structures the film around a series of whimsical "near misses." Characters miss each other by mere seconds, walking past the same shop windows or turning corners just as the object of their affection departs. This structural choice transforms the town into a giant clockwork mechanism of fate. It keeps the audience in a state of breathless anticipation, waiting for the gears to finally align. The Criterion Restoration: Visual and Auditory Splendor

His score is the heartbeat of the film, blending traditional French sensibilities with American big-band jazz. Why It Matters Today