The Young Girls Of Rochefort -1967- Criterion -... ›

The Criterion edition (Spine #717) also includes several visual "pieces" that complement the essay: Learn More - Sounding Cinema

The restoration process involved a painstaking review of the original materials, careful digital cleanup, and a thorough color grading process to ensure that the film's original color palette and visual aesthetic are preserved. The result is a viewing experience that feels both nostalgic and contemporary.

Joining them are titans of screen and stage. , the icon of American musicals, provides his own choreography for his role as the friendly pianist Andy Miller. George Chakiris ( West Side Story ) brings his smooth dancing to the role of Etienne, while Danielle Darrieux and Michel Piccoli offer veteran grace as the older couple.

The Criterion Collection release restores the film to its original Technicolor glory, stripping away years of faded prints to reveal the bold palette Demy intended. The audio is crisp, allowing Legrand’s complex orchestrations to breathe. The release typically includes essential supplements, such as archival interviews with Demy and Legrand, a documentary on the making of the film, and discussions on the film’s restoration, providing context for the labor of love that preserved this masterpiece.

The Criterion release allows modern audiences to appreciate the film’s most poignant subtext: the real-life bond between the two leads. Françoise Dorléac was a blazing talent—edgier, more cynical, and more volatile than her younger sister, Deneuve. Off-screen, they were inseparable. On-screen, their chemistry is electric, a genuine shorthand of sisterly exasperation and adoration. The Young Girls of Rochefort -1967- Criterion -...

What elevates The Young Girls of Rochefort into the pantheon of great musicals is its stellar creative pedigree. The Score by Michel Legrand

Adding to the film's cross-cultural appeal is the inclusion of Gene Kelly. Demy had long dreamed of working with Kelly, and the result is a wonderful sequence that sees the aging star, in what many consider his final great graceful bow on screen, dance through the streets of a small French town. Around them, a divine supporting cast of Danielle Darrieux (the only cast member who does her own singing), Michel Piccoli, and Jacques Perrin helps anchor the film's fantastical elements in rich, character-driven realism.

Demy and cinematographer Ghislain Cloquet wrap Rochefort in saturated primary colors—turquoise, cherry red, lemon yellow—turning streets, cafés, and storefronts into the stage set of an idealized French port town. The production design and costumes (notably by Magali Clément) treat color as character: each hue signals romantic possibility or emotional tone. Wide, theatrical framing and perfectly composed tableaux let scenes breathe, while Gene Kelly’s cameo sequences bring a Hollywood gloss without stealing the film’s French identity.

: 40,000 square meters of shutters and facades were repainted in pink, blue, and yellow. The Criterion edition (Spine #717) also includes several

A touching documentary by Agnès Varda (Demy’s widow and a legendary filmmaker in her own right) that revisits the town of Rochefort, exploring the lasting impact of the production on its residents.

Unbeknownst to them, their perfect partners are already wandering the exact same streets. The town is filled with a rotating cast of dreamers:

The centerpiece of this release is a stunning 2K digital restoration. Scanned from the original 35mm camera negative, the restoration—supervised by Demy’s widow, Agnès Varda—was completed at Digimage Classics in Paris. Reviewers universally praise the results, noting that "the colors burst off the screen" and that it "looks as good as more recent films by Wes Anderson." The soundtrack has been remastered as a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, which fills the room with Legrand’s timeless music.

Watching Kelly—then 55 years old—tap dance through a French square while wooing a French waitress is surreal and joyful. The Criterion transfer captures the sweat and effort of his dance; you see the master at work, not a digitized ghost. It acts as a bridge between MGM’s golden era and the European art film, a handshake between Hollywood and the Left Bank. , the icon of American musicals, provides his

An in-depth booklet featuring writing by film scholars analyzing how Demy subverted the traditional Hollywood musical structure to comment on French society, NATO presence, and the changing landscape of late-1960s Europe. The Lasting Legacy of Rochefort

No discussion of Rochefort is complete without the elephant in the soundstage: Gene Kelly.

The film stars Catherine Deneuve and her real-life sister, Françoise Dorléac, who bring an authentic, dynamic chemistry to the roles 1.2.4 . Tragically, Dorléac died in a car accident shortly after the film's release 1.2.4.

The Young Girls Turn 25 (1993) and Once Upon a Time… The Young Girls of Rochefort (2014) provide deep insights into the making of the film, including the rare English-dubbed version.