The Young Girls of Rocheford (1967)
It's kind of amazing this kind of film was even ever made. It's both wonderful and horrible. The horrible aspects kept me from really watching every minute, but the wonderful aspects made me try.
This is a French musical that is almost all singing. The plot moves along, barely, and lacks the clarity of say a Fred Astaire musical (or any other American affair), and it doesn't have dance very often (or very well done). But boy does it go from one song to another.
The stylizing is terrific--every set is modern and clean, inside and out on the streets of 1960s Paris. If you are a fan of Catherine Deneuve, she's a bit inaccessible beneath the heavy wig and makeup and amidst all the singing. In fact, there is nothing sincere going on here, unless you can reach beneath the veneer of the music and its style
That's the trick here, adapting to this very very different way of telling a story. I don't think it's brilliant, but it has elements that will appeal to people already comfortable with the vocabulary, and the arch falseness of it all. Because, actually, deep down, and very shallowly hidden, is a heart-rending story of two young woman wanting true love. Of course, they are impossibly beautiful and the fact they are even marginally single is hilarious, but such is a movie, and a musical.
You might recognize a song or two here, but for the most part the musical aspects are vehicles for replacing normal dialog. What a cool idea...if only done with more verve and imagination. Even the filming, for all its clean perfection, is a bit dry, at least compared to the muscular films of American 1950s Leonard Freed vintage. Furthermore, the two sisters who are the leads are a bit stiff physically (not natural dancers, I guess) and the entire movie, including their parts, is dubbed in later recordings, and it sounds and looks a bit odd.
The 1960s were a rough time for feature movies everywhere, and this is struggling to create a paradigm that surpasses television and is rich and sparkling and perfect. The production values are high, for sure. But be prepared. It's a stiff, stilted narrative and the music is not overly memorable. Two large stakes driven into a somewhat stiff corpus. There's even a dance with a supposed basketball dance troupe. Oy.
You know what? I think if you've gotten this far, watch the first ten minutes. You'll either barf or fall asleep or be really curious. It's a fair sample of the remaining two hours. Good luck!
It's kind of amazing this kind of film was even ever made. It's both wonderful and horrible. The horrible aspects kept me from really watching every minute, but the wonderful aspects made me try.
This is a French musical that is almost all singing. The plot moves along, barely, and lacks the clarity of say a Fred Astaire musical (or any other American affair), and it doesn't have dance very often (or very well done). But boy does it go from one song to another.
The stylizing is terrific--every set is modern and clean, inside and out on the streets of 1960s Paris. If you are a fan of Catherine Deneuve, she's a bit inaccessible beneath the heavy wig and makeup and amidst all the singing. In fact, there is nothing sincere going on here, unless you can reach beneath the veneer of the music and its style
That's the trick here, adapting to this very very different way of telling a story. I don't think it's brilliant, but it has elements that will appeal to people already comfortable with the vocabulary, and the arch falseness of it all. Because, actually, deep down, and very shallowly hidden, is a heart-rending story of two young woman wanting true love. Of course, they are impossibly beautiful and the fact they are even marginally single is hilarious, but such is a movie, and a musical.
You might recognize a song or two here, but for the most part the musical aspects are vehicles for replacing normal dialog. What a cool idea...if only done with more verve and imagination. Even the filming, for all its clean perfection, is a bit dry, at least compared to the muscular films of American 1950s Leonard Freed vintage. Furthermore, the two sisters who are the leads are a bit stiff physically (not natural dancers, I guess) and the entire movie, including their parts, is dubbed in later recordings, and it sounds and looks a bit odd.
The 1960s were a rough time for feature movies everywhere, and this is struggling to create a paradigm that surpasses television and is rich and sparkling and perfect. The production values are high, for sure. But be prepared. It's a stiff, stilted narrative and the music is not overly memorable. Two large stakes driven into a somewhat stiff corpus. There's even a dance with a supposed basketball dance troupe. Oy.
You know what? I think if you've gotten this far, watch the first ten minutes. You'll either barf or fall asleep or be really curious. It's a fair sample of the remaining two hours. Good luck!