“Bay of Angels” (1963)
This gambling noir film is more akin—visually at least—to Jean-Pierre Melville’s pre-Nouvelle Vague “Bob le flambeur” than to Demy’s celebrated later films. While it’s lacking the candy-colored confectionery style he’d soon embrace with his next feature, there is already ample evidence here of his knack for knowing exactly how and where to move the camera to maximum effect, only here he employs a black-and-white palette perfectly suited to the material. It’s as much a cautionary tale as a wild at heart romance, set amidst the smoky, booze-filled roulette tables and sun-dappled beaches of southern France. The lovers are played by Claude Mann (“Army of Shadows”) and the irreplaceable Jeanne Moreau (“Jules and Jim,” “The Bride Wore Black”), who become attached via their lust for gambling. Mann is a bored but pragmatic every man who ditches his humdrum life as a banker to perpetually vacation in Nice, a popular gambling spot. Not long after he’s embroiled with Moreau’s character, a serious addict, and the rest of the film plays out in a series of romantic and financial ups and downs. There’s a bit too much repetitive montaging (anytime Michel Legrand’s soaring piano score kicks in, you can count on another shot of the roulette wheel spinning over shots of money exchanging hands) and the film pushes too hard for a romantic finale (Demy goes more for the heart here as opposed to his more hardened and realistic subsequent musicals), but ‘Angels’ works for the most part. Without it and the aforementioned Melville gambling film, you wouldn’t have PTA’s “Hard Eight.”
“The Umbrellas of Cherbourg” (1964)
We already listed this “heart-on-sleeve romantic musical” as one of the 15 best Palme d’Or winners in the history of the Cannes Film Festival, so it’s safe to say we are big fans of Demy’s most famous and accomplished work. It really is something to behold, even for this writer who’s not exactly a fan of musicals. But even my wet blanket dries up every time I seen this heartbreaking rumination on young love and the cruel hand of fate tearing it apart. Visually, Demy reached a whole new level here; the brightly colored sets and costumes look as if the director opened up a bag of skittles, melted them down and splashed them across every frame. But the bubble gum pop art look, effective in conjuring a movie-world reminiscent of the old Hollywood style Demy was so enamored by, is something of a ruse, obscuring the gut-punch tragedy that’s unfolding right before our eyes, until it’s too late and the audience is left in a puddle of tears. It’s sad stuff, but getting there is an utter delight in the hands of Demy, here working for the first time with legend Catherine Deneuve in a role that perfectly utilizes her natural innocence and beauty. ‘Umbrellas’ takes on new meanings with every viewing: my first time I found it to be the saddest film I’ve ever seen; upon a second viewing, it seemed a more realistic take on the perils of falling hard in love so early in life (the conclusion felt less tragic and more pragmatic); the third time, I loved the whimsy and heartbreak, each element conjoining in a truly complex exploration on the fleeting, fluid nature of love and its often tough-to-swallow consequences. Did I mention every line of dialogue is sung?“The Umbrellas of Cherbourg” is truly magical.
“The Young Girls of Rochefort” (1967)
There’s a lot to admire in Demy’s follow-up to what would prove to be his career zenith, “Umbrellas of Cherbourg”: He feels even more liberated telling this story on an even bigger canvas (literally, shooting in scope to take advantage of super widescreen framing, all the better to show off all the film’s dancing); the near-wordless opening ten minutes or so is a masterclass in setting up themes, characters, setting and tone, in a musical, no less; Hollywood legend Gene Kelly gets several moments to be awesome; and the women of the film are all sexually confident, smart, talented and driven to make their own way in the world. But in the end, ‘Rochefort’ is a much more traditional musical than ‘Umbrellas’. What’s impressive, in retrospect, is how Demy stands out in this fertile period of French cinema. While the rest of his New Wave contemporaries’ work was getting more experimental, political and outré, this film now feels fresh for embracing old-fashioned styles as opposed to razing them to the ground. The colors here are more pastel-heavy, with the wardrobe addressing the mod moment afoot in fashion at the time.‘Rochefort’is a very good film that simply pales in comparison next to its predecessor.
