Jacques Demy (5 June 1931 – 27 October 1990) was one of the most approachable filmmakers to appear in the wake of the
French New WaveThe New Wave was a blanket term coined by critics for a group of French filmmakers of the late 1950s and 1960s, influenced by Italian Neorealism and classical Hollywood cinema...
. Uninterested in the formal experimentation of
Alain ResnaisAlain Resnais is a French film director whose early works are often grouped within the New Wave or nouvelle vague film movement...
, or the political agitation of
Jean-Luc GodardJean-Luc Godard is a French and Swiss filmmaker and one of the founding members of the Nouvelle Vague, or "French New Wave"....
, Demy instead created a self-contained fantasy world closer to that of
François TruffautFrançois Roland Truffaut was an influential filmmaker and one of the founders of the French New Wave. In a film career lasting over a quarter of a century, he remains an icon of the French film industry...
, drawing on musicals, fairytales and the golden age of Hollywood.
After working with the animator
Paul GrimaultPaul Grimault was one of the most important French animators. He made many traditionally animated films that were delicate in style, satirical, and lyrical in nature....
and the filmmaker
Georges RouquierGeorges Rouquier was a French actor, film director and screenwriter. He appeared in 12 films between 1942 and 1982. He also directed ten films between 1942 and 1983.-External links:...
, Demy directed his first feature film,
LolaLola, is a 1961 film, the debut film directed by Jacques Demy as a tribute to director Max Ophüls and is described by Demy as a "musical without music". Anouk Aimée starred in the title role...
, in 1961, with
Anouk AiméeAnouk Aimée is a French film actress. Aimée has appeared in 70 films since 1947.Aimée was born Françoise Sorya Dreyfus in Paris, France, the daughter of actors Geneviève Sorya and Henri Murray ....
playing the eponymous cabaret singer.
Jacques Demy (5 June 1931 – 27 October 1990) was one of the most approachable filmmakers to appear in the wake of the
French New WaveThe New Wave was a blanket term coined by critics for a group of French filmmakers of the late 1950s and 1960s, influenced by Italian Neorealism and classical Hollywood cinema...
. Uninterested in the formal experimentation of
Alain ResnaisAlain Resnais is a French film director whose early works are often grouped within the New Wave or nouvelle vague film movement...
, or the political agitation of
Jean-Luc GodardJean-Luc Godard is a French and Swiss filmmaker and one of the founding members of the Nouvelle Vague, or "French New Wave"....
, Demy instead created a self-contained fantasy world closer to that of
François TruffautFrançois Roland Truffaut was an influential filmmaker and one of the founders of the French New Wave. In a film career lasting over a quarter of a century, he remains an icon of the French film industry...
, drawing on musicals, fairytales and the golden age of Hollywood.
Career
After working with the animator
Paul GrimaultPaul Grimault was one of the most important French animators. He made many traditionally animated films that were delicate in style, satirical, and lyrical in nature....
and the filmmaker
Georges RouquierGeorges Rouquier was a French actor, film director and screenwriter. He appeared in 12 films between 1942 and 1982. He also directed ten films between 1942 and 1983.-External links:...
, Demy directed his first feature film,
LolaLola, is a 1961 film, the debut film directed by Jacques Demy as a tribute to director Max Ophüls and is described by Demy as a "musical without music". Anouk Aimée starred in the title role...
, in 1961, with
Anouk AiméeAnouk Aimée is a French film actress. Aimée has appeared in 70 films since 1947.Aimée was born Françoise Sorya Dreyfus in Paris, France, the daughter of actors Geneviève Sorya and Henri Murray ....
playing the eponymous cabaret singer. The Demy universe here emerges fully-fledged. Characters burst into song (courtesy of composer and lifelong Demy-collaborator
Michel LegrandMichel Legrand is a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and pianist of French and Armenian descent....
); iconic Hollywood imagery is lovingly appropriated as in the opening scene with the man in a white Stetson in the Cadillac, daringly set to Beethoven's "Seventh Symphony"); plot is dictated by the director's fascination with fate, and stock themes of chance encounters and long-lost love; and the setting, as with so many of Demy's films, is the French Atlantic coast of his childhood, specifically the seaport town of
NantesNantes is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, while its metropolitan area is the eighth with 804,833 inhabitants at a 2008 estimate....
.
La Baie des AngesLa Baie des Anges is a 1963 French film directed by Jacques Demy, starring Jeanne Moreau and Claude Mann. La Baie des Anges is Demy's second film and deals with the subject of gambling.- Plot :...
(
The Bay of Angels, 1963), starring
Jeanne MoreauJeanne Moreau is a French actress, screenwriter and director.Moreau made her theatrical debut in 1947, and established herself as one of the leading actresses of the Comédie-Française...
, took the theme of fate further, with its story of love at the roulette tables.
Most impressive of all was his musical,
Les Parapluies de CherbourgThe Umbrellas of Cherbourg is a musical film made in 1964. It was directed by Jacques Demy, and stars Catherine Deneuve and Nino Castelnuovo. The music was written by Michel Legrand...
(
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, 1964). Although the subversion of established genres was a typically New Wave obsession (notably Godard's playful thriller-cum-sci-fi,
Alphaville), Demy was unusual in actually recreating them literally. The whimsical concept — rare in musicals — of singing all the dialogue sets the tone for this tragedy of the everyday. The film also sees the emergence of Demy's trademark visual style: whereas
Lola, filmed by Godard's cinematographer
Raoul CoutardRaoul Coutard is a French cinematographer. He is most often associated with the nouvelle vague period and particularly for his work with director Jean-Luc Godard...
, has a New Wave black and white austerity,
Les Parapluies is shot in saturated supercolour, with every tiny detail — neck-ties, wallpaper, even
Catherine DeneuveCatherine Deneuve is a French actress. She gained recognition for her portrayal of beautiful ice maidens for various directors, including Luis Buñuel and Roman Polanski. Deneuve won two César Awards for her performances in Le Dernier Métro and Indochine . She has also received BAFTA and Academy...
's bleach-blonde hair — selected for maximum visual impact. Interestingly, the young man, Roland Cassard, from
Lola (Marc Michel) reappears here, marrying Deneuve: such reappearances are typical of Demy's work.
He never quite recaptured the brilliance of these first three films, although he was rarely dull.
Les Demoiselles de RochefortThe Young Girls of Rochefort is a 1967 musical film directed by Jacques Demy, starring Catherine Deneuve, her sister Françoise Dorléac , Jacques Perrin, Michel Piccoli, Danielle Darrieux, George Chakiris, Grover Dale and Gene Kelly...
(1967), another Deneuve musical, has some of the best French songs of the period, and an engaging cameo from an aging
Gene KellyEugene Curran "Gene" Kelly was an American dancer, actor, singer, film director and producer, and choreographer....
, in which Kelly speaks and sings in French. Lola reappears in the unusually experimental
Model ShopModel Shop is a 1969 film by French writer-director Jacques Demy starring Gary Lockwood, Alexandra Hay and Anouk Aimée. Demy made Model Shop, which was his first English-language film, following the international success of his film, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.Aimée reprises the title role from...
(1969), his first American film.
Peau d'ÂnePeau d'Âne is a 1970 French color-coded musical film rendering of the famous Charles Perrault fairy tale Donkeyskin, about a king who wishes to marry his daughter. It is directed and written by Jacques Demy, scored by Michel Legrand and stars Jean Marais and Catherine Deneuve...
(
Donkey Skin, 1970) is a visually extravagant, if rather literal, interpretation of a fairytale, again with Deneuve.
Subsequent films are less highly regarded, but may well be due for reappraisal: David Thomson wrote about "the fascinating application of the operatic technique to an unusually dark story" in
Une chambre en villeUne chambre en ville is a 1982 French film directed by Jacques Demy. Like much of his work, it is a musical in which every line of dialogue is sung....
(
A Room in Town, 1982). After years of neglect, Demy's strengths have been recognized, and
Parapluies de Cherbourg was digitally restored and reissued to great acclaim in 1998.
Demy was the husband of fellow director
Agnès VardaAgnès Varda is a French film director. Her movies, photographs, and art installations focus on documentary realism, feminist issues, and social commentary — with a distinct experimental style.-Life:...
, whose documentary
Jacquot de NantesJacquot de Nantes is a 1991 French drama film directed by Agnès Varda. It was screened out of competition at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Philippe Maron - Jacquot 1* Edouard Joubeaud - Jacquot 2* Laurent Monnier - Jacquot 3...
is a loving account of Demy's childhood and his lifelong love of theatre and cinema.
Jacques Demy died of AIDS (information given in Agnès Varda's 2008 autobiographical movie
Les Plages d'Agnès) in 1990 at age 59 and was interred in the Montparnasse Cemetery in
MontparnasseMontparnasse is an area of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred on the intersection of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes...
.
Select filmography
- Lola
Lola, is a 1961 film, the debut film directed by Jacques Demy as a tribute to director Max Ophüls and is described by Demy as a "musical without music". Anouk Aimée starred in the title role...
(1960)
- La Luxure, episode in Les Sept péchés capitaux
Les Sept péchés capitaux is a 1962 film composed of seven different segments, one for each of the seven deadly sins....
(1961)
- La Baie des Anges
La Baie des Anges is a 1963 French film directed by Jacques Demy, starring Jeanne Moreau and Claude Mann. La Baie des Anges is Demy's second film and deals with the subject of gambling.- Plot :...
(1962)
- Les Parapluies de Cherbourg
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is a musical film made in 1964. It was directed by Jacques Demy, and stars Catherine Deneuve and Nino Castelnuovo. The music was written by Michel Legrand...
(1964)
- Les Demoiselles de Rochefort
The Young Girls of Rochefort is a 1967 musical film directed by Jacques Demy, starring Catherine Deneuve, her sister Françoise Dorléac , Jacques Perrin, Michel Piccoli, Danielle Darrieux, George Chakiris, Grover Dale and Gene Kelly...
(1967)
- Model Shop
Model Shop is a 1969 film by French writer-director Jacques Demy starring Gary Lockwood, Alexandra Hay and Anouk Aimée. Demy made Model Shop, which was his first English-language film, following the international success of his film, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.Aimée reprises the title role from...
(1969)
- Peau d'Âne
Peau d'Âne is a 1970 French color-coded musical film rendering of the famous Charles Perrault fairy tale Donkeyskin, about a king who wishes to marry his daughter. It is directed and written by Jacques Demy, scored by Michel Legrand and stars Jean Marais and Catherine Deneuve...
(The Donkey Skin or The Magic Donkey) (1970)
- The Pied Piper (1972)
- L'événement le plus important depuis que l'homme a marché sur la lune (The slightly pregnant man) (1973)
- Lady Oscar
Lady Oscar is a 1979 film, based on the manga/anime The Rose of Versailles, created by Riyoko Ikeda. The film was written and directed Jacques Demy, with music composed by Michel Legrand...
(1979)
- La Naissance du Jour (made for TV, 1979)
- Une chambre en ville
Une chambre en ville is a 1982 French film directed by Jacques Demy. Like much of his work, it is a musical in which every line of dialogue is sung....
("A room in town") (1982)
- Parking (1982)
- La table tournante (1988)
- Trois places pour le 26 (1988)
External links