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France · 1993
1h 4m
Director Agnès Varda
Starring Catherine Deneuve, Agnès Varda, Michel Legrand, Jacques Perrin
Genre Documentary
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For this documentary about the making of The Young Girls of Rochefort, filmmaker Agnès Varda, director Jacques Demy’s wife, returned to the town of Rochefort for the film’s twenty-fifth anniversary. In it, she interviews actors Catherine Deneuve, Jacques Perrin, and George Chakiris, as well as townspeople who were present during the filming.
In this celebratory documentary, Agnes Varda, the wife of Jacques Demy, brings some of the players and extras together back in Rochefort for some reminiscences. In keeping with the thoroughly romantic nature of the musical, she also tells the story of how Les Demoiselles de Rochefort's extras found romance and had their lives changed by participating in its making.
The Guardian by Jonathan Romney
Best of all, though, the film is a reminder of how deliriously odd Les Demoiselles was, with its MGM-style dance routines, kitschy pastels, and Gene Kelly as honoured guest hoofer. [21 May 1993, p.4]
Los Angeles Times by Kevin Thomas
Above all, The 'Young Girls' Turn 25 is an homage by Varda to Demy, a loving and luminous companion film to Varda's Jacquot de Nante. [12 Jun 1997, p.F11]
Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert
Pretty much required viewing.
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The Young Girls Turn 25 is Agnés Varda's beautiful dedication to her late husband, Jacques Demy, and his work, 1965 musical The Young Girls of Rochefort. Varda's documentary, shot 25 years later, shows accounts from locals who experienced the filming and cast and crews' memories from the set. The joy the original film brought to those who made it is evident. Still, the most moving aspect of the film is the quiet grief of Catherine Deneuve and Varda as they reminisce on happy moments in their lives with their loved ones who are now gone, Deneuve's sister and co-star Françoise Dorléac and Demy.