Dare to Demy
Les parapluies de Cherbourg
Cinémathèque celebrates French New Wave director Jacques Demy.
One of the first successful directors to emerge from the French New Wave, Demy's critically acclaimed musical The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Les parapluies de Cherbourg) won the Cannes Palme d'Or in 1964 and was nominated for several Oscars.
Featuring a wall-to-wall score by Michel Legrand, all dialogue in The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is delivered in song. Combined with a hyper-real colour palette, this is the filmic equivalent of a fairytale, but Demy complemented his fantasy with the bittersweet twist of reality - creating a film that is romantic and beautiful while also unexpectedly sad and wise. The film also had the coup of being the breakout for a then unknown 20-year-old actress Catherine Denevue.
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is just one of the gems screening in the Melbourne Cinémathèque's Songs of Love and Despair: The Universe of Jacques Demy, a spotlight season celebrating one of the French New Wave's most beloved filmmakers.
Other highlights include The Young Girls of Rochefort (Les Demoiselle de Rochefort) another fantastic Demy musical featuring Denevue alongside her real-life sister Francoise Dorleac. Similarly to The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, it features stunning candy-coloured photography as well another brilliant score courtesy of Michel Legrand.
Also screening is Demy's first feature film (dedicated to director Max Ophuls) Lola, that carries all the hallmarks of Demy's filmic universe - his fascination with fate and chance, long-lost love and the French Atlantic coast of his childhood, Nantes.
As a beautiful end to this season, Jacquot de Nantes is a moving tribute to Jacques Demy by his wife Agnes Varda, who is often referred to as the 'Godmother of the French New Wave'. Shot just prior to Demy's death and released after, this dramatisation of Demy's youth in Nantes is one of the most heartfelt tributes from one filmmaker to another.
Songs of Love and Despair: The Universe of Jacques Demy runs from Wednesday 21 April to Wednesday 5 May. For session times and tickets click here.
Published Monday, 19 April 2010
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