Viewed 11/29/03 (DVD) (First Viewing)

And I thought that Les Parapluies de Cherbourg couldn't be topped. But with Les Demoiselles de Rochefort, director Jacques Demy pulls out all stops and creates a daring and utterly delightful film that matches the masterful Parapluies step for step.

Catherine Deneuve, the star of Parapluries, is teamed with her older sister François Dorléac to star as a pair of ambitious twins eager to get out of the small town of Rochefort to find fame, fortune and love in Paris (Deneuve is a dancer, Dorléac a musician). But first is the town festival over the weekend. Little do the twins realize how much their lives will change over this one weekend. Also starring is George Chakiris, Michel Piccoli (who was Denueve's co-star in another '67 film- Buñuel's Belle de Jour), Jacques Perrin and French film legend Danielle Darrieux as the twin's mother.

Somehow, Demoiselles feels completely different than Hollywood musicals. Somehow, it's seems lighter and airier and more fresh than anything I've ever seen from a Hollywood's diverse offerings. It's marked by a refreshing inhibition, and a bubbly tone that's infectious. I can't think of a Hollywood musical I could compare it to. And though it showcases Demy's dazzling eye for color and art direction, it's nothing like Parapluies either. It's a unique cinematic experience.

Nobody can quite create a world quite like Demy. His Rochefort is a highly stylized riot of color, with costumes to match. From the impossibly blue fountain in the village square to Deneuve and Dorléac's fantastic clothes, Demoiselles is a feast for the eyes. The music, provided by New Wave music legend Michel Legrand, is catchy and and suitably upbeat. Ghislain Cloquet's cinematography is simply superb.

But underneath these eye-popping trappings is a story surprisingly symmetrical -the twin's lives seem to mirror the other's. Characters, destined for one another, spend the whole film missing each other by seconds. Surprising secrets surface abound throughout. The number of coincidences could only be carefully created by a writer or a screenwriter, but one never looks for reality in a musical anyway, so it fits perfectly.

I'm not a huge fan of the musical genre, though they're always enjoyable now and then. And Les Demoiselles de Rochefort ranks as one of the very best there is.

(Note: In 1996, Demy's widow, female New Wave auteur Agnés Varda, supervised a restoration of the film. It's one of the best restorations I've ever experienced. The DVD is the only way to see this film.)