To solidify this transatlantic bridge, Demy famously cast Gene Kelly himself as Andy Miller, an American composer visiting Rochefort. Kelly’s presence brings an instant, foundational credibility to the film’s choreography. Watching Kelly dance through the streets of France in a crisp white suit, exuding the same effortless athletic grace he displayed in An American in Paris , bridges the gap between classic Hollywood mythos and European art-house cinema.
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.
Michel Legrand’s score is the film’s beating heart. Lush motifs recur—particularly the yearning theme that threads the sisters’ story—and the songs shift between buoyant ensemble numbers and intimate melodic laments. Demy’s direction of movement creates dance out of everyday action: people drift, glance, and circle one another in choreography that advances plot and feeling simultaneously. The choreography feels effortless; it’s less about virtuosic display than about the choreography of encounters—how strangers become lovers through music and missed connections.
While The Umbrellas of Cherbourg was a melancholic, sung-through opera, The Young Girls of Rochefort is closer to a traditional Hollywood studio musical, with dance numbers that showcase the vibrant energy of the characters. 4. The Criterion Collection Release The Young Girls of Rochefort -1967- Criterion -...
(famed for West Side Story ) plays Étienne, one of the traveling carnival workers.
Behind the camera, Demy assembled a team of masters. The legendary composed the film’s extraordinary jazz-infused score. In a shift from their previous collaboration ( The Umbrellas of Cherbourg ), The Young Girls of Rochefort features snappy dialogue between songs, making it a more traditional yet accessible musical. Production Designer Bernard Evein famously had the entire town square repainted in glorious pastel shades of pink, peach, yellow, and baby blue to create the film’s signature visual aesthetic. "It is almost indecent to describe what should only be seen," one critic writes.
The included booklet features an essay by critic Jonathan Rosenbaum, who argues that Rochefort is Demy’s most deeply American film—not despite its Frenchness, but because it borrows the Hollywood musical’s utopian promise and subverts it with existential absence. To solidify this transatlantic bridge, Demy famously cast
) is a vibrant, candy-colored tribute to the Golden Age of Hollywood musicals, famously starring real-life sisters Catherine Deneuve and Françoise Dorléac. Set in the seaside town of Rochefort, the story follows twins Delphine and Solange Garnier—a dance instructor and a music teacher—who dream of escaping their provincial lives for fame and romance in Paris. Criterion Collection edition
plays Yvonne, the twins' mother, who runs the central glass-walled café. Visual Style and Sound: The Legrand Legacy
Let’s be honest—this film has lived on murky VHS and sun-faded prints for decades. Criterion’s 4K restoration is a revelation. Michel Legrand’s score (one of the greatest film scores of the 20th century) pops like champagne. The pastel pinks, oranges, and mint-greens of Rochefort’s town square are so vivid you’ll want to lick the screen. Demy built an entire fake town square for this film, and Criterion makes you feel every brushstroke. Joining them are titans of screen and stage
The film is notable for its incredible ensemble cast, bringing together French cinema royalty and Hollywood icons:
The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967): Jacques Demy’s Pastel Masterpiece Joins the Criterion Collection