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"The Young Girls of Rochefort" is one
of the strangest films ever made. Not an all-singer like
"The Umbrellas of Cherbourg," it has dialogue, more
conventional set-ups for musical numbers, and lots and lots of
dancing. Still it's in no way an ordinary musical. Rather it's a
musical about characters who've seen a lot of musicals. Catherine
Deneuve and Francois Dorleac don't so much play parts as they
embody simultaneous evocations of Judy Garland and Lucille Bremer
in "Meet Me in St, Louis," AND Jane Russell and Marilyn
Monroe in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes." Gene Kelly
appears as Gene Kelly -- in all his Gene Kellyness. He dances
with children, trills tunes to old ladies, and when he dances
with Dorleac repeats the exact choreography he created for
himself and Leslie Caron in the "Our Love is Here To
Stay" number from "An American in Paris."
Rochefort is a real place, but Jacques -- who had his designer
Bernard Evien repaint it for the occasion -- treats it as a set.
It as if the entire city were created for the sole purpose of
having this film made in it. Jacques was an exceedingly
late-bloomer sexually. He wasn't "out" in '67, but no
straight filmmaker on earth would ever write the line: "I
can't find my concerto! And I always keep it in the same place --
right betwen my compact and my sunglasses!"
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