The Enchanting World of Jacques Demy
March 30, 2006 - April 2, 2006
Cinephile turned filmmaker Jacques Demy (1931–1990) created a filmic world shaped by his deep appreciation for the works of René Clair, Jean Cocteau, Robert Bresson, and Max Ophuls (to whom he dedicated his first feature Lola) as well as many classical Hollywood directors. Themes of chance and absence, circular plotlines tracing the destinies of his characters, masterfully choreographed camera movements, and a penchant for decorative elegance are trademarks of Demy's cinematic style.
Demy's connection to musical structure, expressed through his frequent collaborations with composer Michel Legrand, gives yet another distinctive quality to his melancholic tales of love. From the spectacular opening glissando of Bay of Angels, in which Beethoven's Seventh Symphony accompanies a tracking shot along the French Riviera, to the sung-through recitative of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg or the expressive dance numbers of The Young Girls of Rochefort, Demy's world is one of harmony and grace. His use of location shooting—in his hometown of Nantes, Cherbourg, Rochefort, and, remarkably, Los Angeles—reveals his love for locale. Demy's world is steeped in tender emotion, his eye for cinema an extension of his love of life.
Susan Oxtoby
Thursday, March 30, 2006
7:30 p.m. Lola
A nightclub dancer (Anouk Aimée) waits, against all odds or logic, for the return of the lover who left her with a child seven years earlier. Demy's first feature, "among the most neglected major works of the French New Wave."-Jonathan Rosenbaum
Friday, March 31, 2006
7:00 p.m. Bay of Angels
Jeanne Moreau is a faded gambler ready for one last spin along the Riviera, accompanied by a puppyish bank clerk. "An exhibition of cinematic personality reminiscent of Dietrich's best."-New York Times
Friday, March 31, 2006
8:45 p.m. Model Shop
This sequel to Lola finds Anouk Aimée, now a little older and sadder, in Los Angeles, working in a "model shop" where lonely men go to snap photos of beautiful women. "One of the great movies about L.A."-Time Out
Saturday, April 1, 2006
6:30 p.m. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
A paean to Catherine Deneuve, French design, 1960s chic, MGM musicals, and the songs of Michel Legrand. A boy and girl love, lose, love again, and lose again against an assortment of fabulous wallpaper, singing all the while.
Saturday, April 1, 2006
8:30 p.m. Jacquot
Demy's wife Agnès Varda (Vagabond; The Gleaners and I) crafted this affecting and enlightening portrait of the artist as a young boy in 1940s Nantes. "A one-of-a-kind celebration."-N.Y. Times
Sunday, April 2, 2006
3:00 p.m. The Young Girls of Rochefort
Catherine Deneuve and sister Françoise Dorléac are twins lifted out of their small-town reveries by a troupe of wandering entertainers led by Mr. American in Paris himself, Gene Kelly. A tribute to American musicals, done in vintage French style: sugary surface, just a hint of the grotesque, and legs. "Not merely charming or amusing, but profoundly moving."-Sight and Sound
Curated by Susan Oxtoby. Presented with support from the Consulate General of France, San Francisco.
