The Young Girls Of Rochefort -1967- Criterion -... May 2026

Director: Jacques Demy Starring: Françoise Dorléac, Catherine Deneuve, Gene Kelly, Michel Piccoli, and George Chakiris. Available on: The Criterion Collection

While Jacques Demy’s The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) is famous for its tragic, rain-soaked romance, its follow-up, The Young Girls of Rochefort (Les Demoiselles de Rochefort), is a celebration of life, color, and boundless optimism. Released in 1967 and now preserved in stunning high-definition by the Criterion Collection, this film is widely considered one of the greatest movie musicals ever made—and arguably the quintessential "French New Wave Musical."

First-time viewers are often thrown by the film’s subplot: a murder mystery involving a traveling salesman and an art dealer. Why, in a candy-colored musical, does Demy include a severed head in a suitcase? The Young Girls of Rochefort -1967- Criterion -...

The Criterion edition’s liner notes (a sumptuous booklet featuring essays by critic Imogen Sara Smith) argue that the darkness is the point. The Young Girls of Rochefort is not naivety; it is willful optimism. The twins ignore the police, ignore the sordid reality of the missing man, because to acknowledge it would shatter the dream. Demy is showing that joy is a political act. In a world of murder and loneliness (represented by the cynical cafe owner), the choice to dance is heroic.

No discussion of The Young Girls of Rochefort is complete without confronting the tragedy of Françoise Dorléac. The elder sister of Deneuve, Dorléac had a feral, chaotic energy that balanced Deneuve’s glacial perfection. In the scene where Solange sings “Chanson des Jumelles” (“Song of the Twins”), the two women circle a tiny apartment like planets locked in orbit. Their harmonies are tight, but their eyes tell different stories: Deneuve’s longing for safety, Dorléac’s longing for chaos. Why, in a candy-colored musical, does Demy include

Dorléac burned through the screen. She improvised physical stunts that terrified the crew. She chain-smoked between takes. She was, by all accounts, the heart of the production. When she died in a fiery car crash at age 25, the film became a eulogy. The Criterion edition captures this poignancy without wallowing in it. When Solange boards a train to Paris at the film’s climax, you feel the weight: she made it, but the actress did not.

The Young Girls of Rochefort persists because it is joyful without being shallow; stylized without being abstract. It synthesizes French New Wave sensibilities—playful self-awareness, location shooting, youthful focus—with the spectacle and craftsmanship of classic musicals. Its influence is visible in later filmmakers who combine music, color, and romance with an auteur’s visual precision. The twins ignore the police, ignore the sordid

Beneath the glittering surface, Demy explores fate, repetition, and the small mechanics of romantic choice. The film privileges serendipity: love arrives through overheard songs, missed trains, and mirrored dreams. Demy never cynically undercuts the fairy-tale logic; instead, he relishes it, allowing emotion to feel inevitable without becoming saccharine. There’s a gentle melancholia—especially in moments where lovers nearly meet—which keeps the film grounded.