The Young Girls Turn 25 (1993) Movie Script
THE YOUNG GIRLS TURN 25
From bridge to square,
all Rochefort remembers the film
Jacques Demy shot there in 1966,
The Young Girls of Rochefort.
Tourists still ask
for "Demoiselle Square,"
and folks often reply
by singing the famous song
composed by Michel Legrand...
We are a pair of twins
Born in the sign of Gemini
We're two demoiselles
Who took to the boys long ago
Twenty-five years later...
Rochefort decided to celebrate.
A prop plane flew in guests
connected with the film,
like myself.
The star guest was of course
demoiselle Deneuve.
Mayor Jean-Louis Frot.
Welcome to Rochefort.
What a pleasure
to have you here.
We'd chosen June 5,
in memory of Jacques Demy,
born 61 Years earlier.
My name's Michel Rivaux,
and I'm here today
because I was one
of the motorcyclists
taking part
in the film's motorcade.
I still have this great cap.
It's 25 years old.
It shrank in the wash,
but it's still here.
My name's Andr Kety.
We had five Honda CB77's
for our part in the film.
I'm Christian Gurin.
I was part of
the Rochefort Bike Club too.
My cap's yellowed now,
whereas my hair's gone white.
My name's Pierre Veniel.
One of us is missing:
The fifth motorcyclist,
Guy Vinet,
whose nickname was Guitou.
We were all sort of slumbering,
a bit like in Sleeping Beauty.
That was Rochefort.
The film people came,
and we awakened.
We got up, so to speak,
from our canopy bed,
and we all began to sing.
It was marvelous!
Extraordinary!
This was the studio
for the film's first interiors.
My memory plays tricks every time.
It's much smaller.
I remembered it as bigger.
Like children
who come back and say,
"This garden used
to be so big!"
The dance studio was here.
There was so much stuff.
There were dolly tracks,
the piano,
the ballet bar, the students.
The piano
must have been there.
- No, it was over there.
- Oh, it was?
In fact, your memory
tends to blow things up.
That's where reality
and film differ.
Today we're in a real place.'
The mayor's office.
We turned it
into a shooting location.
What if they really love us?
How these linden trees
have grown!
They're sweet.
Yes, they are.
For me
it was such a timeless film,
but being here now
grounds it in reality,
because it's us, me,
25 years later.
It's still me,
whatever the pleasure
and melancholy of it.
And I hear the music
from the film outside.
There'll be balloons,
then the screening,
and the photo show.
I'll enjoy it all.
I know
it'll be melancholic too,
but I also know
there's the fact it endures,
that it continues on.
The pleasure of memory
will win out.
I won't let painful emotions
overwhelm me - I hope.
It's moving
to be back in Rochefort
25 years -
a quarter century -
after making
the great
The Young Girls of Rochefort.
I have this feeling
that if I just walk around,
carnies and sailors
will suddenly appear,
and in a perfectly natural way,
they'll all begin to dance.
And having played
Maxence back then,
I can see myself
in the sailors
I pass in the streets.
It was a film about joy.
That's what Jacques
and I wanted to make.
I've come back
to find that joy again.
It's wonderful to see
that the city decided to celebrate
a film made about the city.
It's marvelous.
The city had been
preparing for weeks.
Dance classes
buzzed with excitement.
Rehearsals inside,
balloons outside,
streamers
going up everywhere.
The music, the crane,
the loudspeakers!
I remember when we made
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.
Whatever the subject,
if you're shooting
outdoors with music,
it turns into a party.
It's a musical,
classical in form,
somewhat traditional,
but trying to create
something new
or at least
something personal.
But the characters
all sing, talk, and dance...
like in the Hollywood classics.
Jacques chose Rochefort
for its lovely and imposing
military architecture.
Jacques and I toured
French towns
built in that style.'
Saumur, La Roche-sur-Yon,
places like that.
At first he wanted Hyres
(sounds like "yesterday")
So it would be
"The Young Girls of Hyres."
But in the end,
the architecture was
more important than the wordplay,
and he chose Rochefort.
He loved Hollywood musicals.
They fed his dreams.
But he was after something
much more French and classical,
and Rochefort
was just right for it.
When we saw Colbert Square,
we jumped for joy,
because he saw
a magnificent city
that he could turn
into a celebration.
As I watched
The Young Girls of Rochefort,
suddenly,
right in the middle,
I had this image
from the past.
I suddenly saw and heard
Jacques again.
When I was a press agent
for producer
Georges de Beauregard,
we used to go over
to the Chiquito coffee,
and we'd sit there
as he described for me
the musical set pieces,
how he'd film
the dances and songs
and do what he wasn't able
to do in Lola.
And all of a sudden, I saw him
superimposed on the screen,
like a double exposure.
I saw him among the buildings
painted in every color,
I saw the Chiquito,
and I saw Demy up on the screen,
talking to me.
I even remember the color
of the sweater and jacket
he wore at the Chiquito.
- The corduroy jacket.
- Exactly.
I think Demy needed
actresses who could play
female leads who were both
distant and intimate.
And Deneuve really conveys
those qualities in the film.
Demy and Deneuve were like
Hitchcock and Grace Kelly.
I think Jacques
found something in Deneuve
he'd been searching for.'
An actress
with star quality.
You've turned out
in great numbers,
just like in 1966 to watch
the filming in this square.
I'm going to ask
Catherine Deneuve
to step up here.
You all know
Michel Legrand.
You know
his music for the film.
The set designer
who transformed
our city for the film.
Here he is!
Give him a big hand.
He's the one
who brought all that color.
I like working
with people I know,
simply because
friendship counts
and makes
the work go faster.
We understand each other.
If I tell Evein
I want a certain blue,
or ultramarine,
or a salon in blood red,
he can visualize it
on the spot.
Bernard had
over 1000 shutters repainted.
I remember the city's new colors
when we arrived,
and the population eager
to take part in the film,
looking forward
to the big party,
without even knowing
what it would be like.
What was terrific for me
was the preparation.
We worked on the dances
in England.
Norman Maen,
the choreographer,
was British,
as were the dancers.
The sisters also had to learn
to lip-synch the songs.
Two weeks in London.
We're working on the dances.
Catherine's been working
for three months,
and so have I.
I've danced before,
but not Catherine.
I'm bored
with these provincial ways
It's Paris for me
where art really pays
It was a big gamble
making me the dancer.
Franoise had ballet training
and was more suited
for the role.
But he wanted Franoise
to be the singer,
because of
her lyrical temperament,
and me to be
the dance instructor.
I had technical problems
learning the songs,
lip-synching perfectly
to the music.
It's hard to both
sing and dance.
It takes
great breath control.
And concentrating
on doing both
is very hard.
Dancing and singing
at the same time.
Let's do a run-through.
It's the English version.
I had to do some dancing
on the square.
It was awful.
And with Gene Kelly
and real dancers there!
I felt like a jerk,
because dance is a real craft,
and nothing can be left to chance,
whereas actors
can benefit from chance.
But dance requires
such precision.
I learned a lot from Gene.
He was terrific.
There were tons of things
I didn't know.
I wanted him to choreograph
the whole film, but he said no.
He'd come to France,
but just for three weeks,
so as not to be away
from his kids.
He did his numbers
and helped plan the shots.
He's a real ace,
he knows it all -
how the camera relates
to the dancers, and everything.
It took a trip
across two continents
It took
this one amazing chance
To change my life
and give it sense
It took my coming back
to France
- You came this way.
- After Kelly's scene.
- You remember everything?
- Not so well.
Twenty-five years is a long time.
But certain scenes, sure.
Especially the scene
with Gene Kelly,
who picked us
out of the whole fifth grade.
We tried out in the schoolyard.
He showed us the steps.
And just like that,
he chose me.
We went up to the car.
He danced with two sailors,
then we joined him by the car.
He jumped in
as we stood nearby.
We watched
and waved good-bye, I think.
Andrew Miller
was looking for a friend
with a music shop.
My name's Simon Dame,
and that's my problem.
When somebody comes in...
through the door,
their greeting is:
"Hello,
messieurs, dames."
Good day, Mr. Dame.
Good day, sisters.
The tragedy of my youth
is that my fiance...
couldn't stand my name,
so she left me.
She went away?
Far away?
To Mexico, with some bum.
What was this monster's name?
Dame. Simon Dame.
I'd have become
Madame Dame. Absurd!
He was a bastard!
Not at all, Papa.
Calm down.
A bastard!
Maybe so,
but he had a charming name.
"Madame Dame."
- It's amusing.
- So I did wrong?
But Jacques didn't do wrong
in choosing Danielle Darrieux
as the twins'
attractive mother.
He loved and admired her.
She was his type,
just like Catherine.
I'd known Danielle forever.
Things were so simple
and intimate with her.
We're very much alike
in not dwelling on certain things
but taking them lightly,
and in a physical resemblance
that Jacques played on.
Why must I give up on love?
She came back to Rochefort,
and we were reunited.
Life is beautiful.
I was 17
back in June of 1966.
On the first day of shooting,
I was to report to Colbert Square.
I'll never forget it,
especially because
school was in session,
and I was taking a big risk
by cutting classes.
I was often called on
to be an extra.
I got paid for it,
and my pals
were green with envy.
It ended
in a kind of weird way,
since I had to be back in class
by late June to avoid being expelled.
- I'm Didier.
- I'm Alain.
We were
the real twins in the film.
We were fifth-graders.
We were chosen,
like other child extras then,
to be in several scenes.
The film was
our first real experience of life.
A fabulous party.
We discovered
the world of cinema,
but mostly
our first romantic feelings
for the mini-demoiselles
of Rochefort.
It was quite an event,
and we ended up
writing it all down.
Impressed by this major event,
I started keeping a diary.
And I did likewise.
We were both
keeping track of things.
But we only realized it
recently.
For 25 years
we'd completely forgotten
that these diaries existed.
These notebooks survived
since I teach history,
and I still write.
I teach French.
We're both in Poitiers.
For this interview,
we looked
for any mementos.
I found
my sailor's cap here.
I found mine too.
I'd kept it.
"Catherine gave me
a half smile.
I responded
with a shy laugh."
"We like each other,
but since I wear glasses,
I take them off
to please her."
"Our eyes met inquisitively."
"Boys and girls
wore sailor suits.'
A small cap with red pompon,
a striped jersey,
white trousers,
white pleated skirts
for the girls,
tennis shoes, with white
bobby socks for the girls.
We made a triumphant entry
among the crowd,
which swayed back and forth.
A movie-made carnival!"
It seems so strange now.
All those color images
of summer! 966
were shot by me
for a little film.
A great film!
The Young Girls of Rochefort.
You were making
a film about the film,
while I filmed
what you were filming.
A film of the film
about the film.
It started out
like a family movie.
Rosalie was delighted
to be there.
So was my dear momma,
so afraid of getting in the way.
Only I would have filmed
my darling
dressing
with that special rhythm of his.
I filmed his calmness
amid the work crew,
and his dreamy smile.
As a special guest,
I could film the stars
really close up.
I filmed ordinary people too,
which I love.
We need a bench to sit on.
We can never see anything,
so we listen.
Are you enjoying the music?
We stayed,
so it can't be bad.
Which do you prefer?
They look so much alike.
If only they had
the same hair color.
I guess
they must be twins, right?
We arrived on the set
like two teenagers,
since we recovered
something
of the way
we'd lived at home.
At that moment in our lives,
she lived near my parents,
but I already had a son.
We'd lost our sisterly bond,
but we renewed
that sisterly bond
before the film,
and all through the film.
I felt this melancholy
when we went home,
her to her loves,
me to my life.
But I'd recovered something
I had missed.
Lucky we aren't real twins.
How awful!
- That's true.
- It would be awful.
But it's nice being twins
for Jacques,
and with my own sister.
Though there are
minor problems.
She dares to hit me!
This was a film
Jacques made
to have the two of us
together in a film
and recreate a music
that resembled our life tempo.
With our feet on the ground
we have flights of fantasy
Hearing the twins
in English, in French,
on prerecorded tracks
25 times a day
starts to make
your head buzz.
We are delicate souls,
two romantics
In love with art,
music, and antics
Where's that man?
The man we long to find
Mr. Right...
A few faults we won't mind
I embodied the ideal male
as Jacques saw it,
or maybe convention,
the same way I did
for Deneuve's character.
And I was amazed.
Why me?
I didn't know Demy.
I often wanted
to discuss it with him,
figure out the why and how,
that special link.
We made the entire film
with no other link
than what emerged
in the moment of filming.
Things happened intuitively,
and when it was over,
I lost touch with Jacques.
I figured that was
the way it had to be.
I know his films
better than I do him.
But sometimes you get to know
people through their work.
In that sense,
I know Jacques rather well.
Maybe try Maxence's song.
Is he near or far?
Could he be in Rochefort?
I'm sure to meet him
I know he does exist
Whatever reason says,
my heart tells me more
Its reign, its law
is something one can't resist
And resist I never will
Sweetie, guys like that
don't hang out in Rochefort.
For Jacques,
it's a romantic vision
from the great movie melodramas.
Life has several phases.
If it's not
meant to happen, well -
But romance might always
come along later.
It's like there's a time lag,
these desires
that are out of sync.
So there's always
a melancholy feeling.
Maxence's theme is romantic
because so is he.
She is my only love,
but what good is a dream?
I've searched all over,
but she's nowhere to be seen
Dear Jacques,
your romanticism is contagious
Every bartly has made
the same wish
To find the great romance
But what good is a dream?
A four-month party.
Shopkeepers were delighted.
Everybody was.
It really gave us all a lift,
and we needed it,
I have to admit.
It brought in
lots of new customers.
There was a real
holiday atmosphere.
I can tell you
another story.
A good friend of mine,
the daughter of a local jeweler,
married a "film roller."
A charming story.
Perhaps they were married
by Mr. Gaury.
He was mayor then.
I really have so little time.
Here's the current mayor
posing beside a pot of begonias,
a plant from Martinique,
imported by Father Plumier
at the time Begon
was intendant to Louis XIV.
It was renamed
in honor of Madame Begon.'
"Begonia."
Rochefort is famous
for four things.'
!) begonias of all varieties,
2) writer Pierre Loti
and his orientalist fancies,
3) The Young Girls of Rochefort,
and by extension,
4) twins.
The shoot was a genuine
highlight in local history.
For four months,
the town
was abuzz with activity
because of what
was going on...
Chakiris, Gene Kelly...
the twins dancing and singing
on Colbert Square.
It was extraordinary.
Lots of music,
lots of striking images,
lots of movement.
And I must say that
because
of all the excitement
and the stepped-up rhythm of life
in town for four months,
1966, when the film
was made,
was probably
Year One
in the rebirth of Rochefort.
That's when
we began to say,
"Though the shipyards
have closed,
the town can live again."
Today, it's a fact.
The arsenal was restored,
along with the rope factory.
They house
the Oceanic Center,
the Bird Preservation League,
a library,
and a media center.
It's also
a popular Sunday stroll.
Speaking of photos,
the rope factory is exhibiting
photos from Jacques's films,
notably
The Young Girls of Rochefort.
Back to the Charente river,
back to "go" -
the bridge and the opening credits.
We're here
at the transporter bridge,
now a landmark.
At the foot
of this bridge,
the first and last scenes
of The Young Girls
were shot.
It thus seemed natural
that the road to the bridge
be named after Jacques Demy,
in the presence of
Agns Varda,
Mathieu Demy, their son,
Hlne Demy,
sister of Jacques Demy,
as well as those
we all know-
Catherine Deneuve,
Bernard Evein,
Michel Legrand,
and Mag Bodard,
without whom
we wouldn't be here today,
since she was the producer
of The Young Girls.
It's a major film,
an American-style production,
shot in two languages,
but made
with French financing.
A huge budget for France,
but French nevertheless.
Of course
it's a big risk to take,
with exteriors,
meaning we're
at the mercy of the weather,
since it's a film
requiring sunshine.
But as the one bearing
all the responsibility,
I know I'll win in the end,
which helps me take the risks.
But I believe in the film,
and I believe
in Jacques Demy.
I'm going
to ask Agns Varda
to christen this avenue.
Hlne, then.
Jacques was
like a brother to me.
A long time ago I dedicated
much more
than a street to him:
It was a main artery
of my life,
an artery
leading from my heart.
Now for another
emotional moment.'
Rochefort wished
to remember Franoise Dorlac.
That's Christiane Fageolle.
She was Franoise's dresser,
then Catherine's.
You are among
those who have worked
for the honor
of French cinema.
This site will bear Franoise
Dorlac's name from now on.
Young girls dream of acting.
Even if only as an extra.
I was unemployed.
So a girlfriend said,
"I'm appearing in the film.
I can introduce you."
I was hired on the spot.
The cops spoke English
for the English version,
so the extras in the scene
were in the dark
about both the crime
and Solange's love affairs.
So we reshot it
once, twice, three times.
The takes were endless.
They didn't get
the standard joke
Maxence makes about his leave.'
"My leave's immi-Nantes!"
Because in English
the pun became...
"A born loser in Toulouse."
So the sailor born in Nantes
ended up a loser from Toulouse.
Poor Maxence!
Behind
those light-hearted scenes,
there was, as in most films,
the counterweight of technique.'
The crane, dollies, tracks.
Franoise,
you take two steps.
Take one, two, three
steps that way.
Not quite so far.
Mark those two spots,
please.
Jacques set up the shots
looking through the camera.
Pause on "two."
Then dolly in and crane down
simultaneously.
You got your end mark?
That's all it is.
Our Belgian friend
Andrew Delvaux
filmed this scene of Jacques
turning the camera over
to Ghislain Cloquet,
master of image and light.
Don't be fooled.
I make it look easy,
but it's not.
We had a week
of pure blue sky.
Checking test shots.
This footage is in black and white,
but the negative was in color.
Next, the director
focuses on his actors.
At the same instant as Gene.
You two have to be
in perfect synch.
You both go
to pick up the things.
What we need here -
"Don't mention it."
You have to -
At some point
you drop your score.
Miss, your slip is showing.
"Miss, your slip is showing."
Make it tight.
That abruptness is good.
Cut! Lunch break.
We'll pick up at! '45.
Everyone to the Grand Bacha,
as usual.
I was matre
at the Grand Bacha.
We had to serve
150 people.
We had to be quick.
There was
no distinction made
between actors,
electricians,
or any of the crew.
Everyone sat together.
Back to work after lunch.
Jacques consults
with script supervisor Annie Maurel.
There go Claude Miller
and Alain Franchet,
his assistants.
Shooting finally resumes.
Action!
- Are you a musician?
- Yes.
Good-bye.
Miss, your slip is showing.
I know, but it doesn't matter.
Miss...
may I see you again?
I don't know.
I don't think so.
Come on.
That guy's got some nerve.
For The Young Girls,
if I'd been born a bit earlier,
I'd have liked
to play Boubou.
Jacques was my granddad.
He'd screen
16 mm films for me.
He'd say, "You wanna watch
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg?"
Wanna watch
The Young Girls of Rochefort?"
And I'd say, "Sure!"
I've seen The Young Girls
of Rochefort 30 times,
because I really love it.
There are works
that are part of my life.
Books like Elie Wiesel's
The Testament,
music like
Bach's cello suites,
and two films:
Jean Cocteau's Orpheus,
and Demy's
The Young Girls of Rochefort.
In fact, when I travel
or I'm away from home,
I take along the cassette of
The Young Girls of Rochefort.
That's not a plug.
It's my life.
It's also the life
of cheese-eating mice who turn into
the "Demouselles of Roquefort,"
created by
Pierre Beaucousin,
high school senior.
I bounce between teaching
and being a cinephile.
I'm Marc Le Gouard,
and I teach kindergarten.
Before I came here,
I'd only seen postcard
aerial views of the city.
Seen from above,
it looked like a waffle iron.
When I moved here
to Rochefort,
I had all these images
from the film in my head.
I lived more in the film
than in the city itself.
It's a dull town,
with its daily routines.
In the street,
I'd imagine people dancing
and singing.
Deep down,
I always felt that magic,
those melodies,
that atmosphere.
Marc rendered
that atmosphere
as figures of the "young girls"
for his kids to color.
This is by Tony, who's 31 I2.
This one, full of life,
movement, and color,
is by Anamandine.
These are in stripes.
This one's colorful too.
Providence School,
first grade.
Children, show us
your pretty pictures.
Hold them up high.
The subject.' the town square
and the "young girls."
That's the square.
The young girls of Rochefort,
in dresses and hats.
Speaking of timeless
and stunning costumes,
Jacques clipped photos
of dresses by Courrges,
straight and loose-fitting,
and dreamed up
extravagant hats.
A stylistic blend of the '60s
and the! 900s,
like the fantasy he projected onto
the rectilinear streets of the city.
He spoke
to Jacqueline Moreau,
and she designed
the dresses.
The same pattern
for mother and daughters.
Only the color of the fabric
and trim varied.
The hats
were by Jean Barthet.
- Hi, Solange.
- Hi, pumpkin.
Your slip's showing.
Twenty-five years ago
we played children
coming out of school.
Deneuve and Dorlac came
to fetch Boubou, our classmate.
We were told
to hold hands
and run to our mommies.
I ran
to Mommy Dominique.
I'm Dominique.
I was 15.
I played the mommy.
I'm Jol, and I was 11.
I played her son.
We were strangers then,
just extras in the film.
We met again in '73
in a factory,
where we'd both found jobs.
We became friends
and then got married.
We have a little girl now.
So you married
your mother?
In a way, yes.
She played my mother
when I was a kid.
Now she's my little lady.
The plot
means nothing to me.
It's a general feeling,
a moment in life,
just moments of existence.
Call it scenes
from provincial life.
Odd provincial life,
where ladies in see-through slickers
leave their kids
where they might drown
to go cavort
with the barrack boys!
Jacques saw
the provinces with a smile.
Jacques's strength lay
in having
a vision of what he wanted.
He wasn't out to impress.
It was him, his style.
It was him, his imagination.'
Miniskirts and sailor suits...
since sailors are more fun.
I'm Captain Camescasse
of the Rochefort
Naval Aeronautic Base.
I was a young sailor
at the time.
We were asked to come
to the square in uniform
as extras.
We've had it
with sailors, girls, and boats.
Grover Dale came from New York,
and George Chakiris had shone
in West Side Story.
It was amazing to see
George Chakiris and Gene Kelly
here on the town square.
We go from town to town
The future's an unknown
A pretty girl lends a hand
and life is grand
- Today here
- Tomorrow there
Our life's a romance,
a melody composed by chance
Full of new delights
We prefer joy to misery
Intelligence to stupidity
Straight talk to hypocrisy
And gentle arms to gendarmes
We go from fair to fair
Folks point and stare
They call us carnies
Amid the floating balloons
and the fleeting ballets,
did Catherine recall
the nutty rehearsals
that I'd filmed without sound?
I'd suggested
Braque, Matisse, Picasso.
Jacques said, "No, I want paintings
that maybe aren't beautiful,
but more modern,
pseudo-contemporary."
So we created
some fake canvases.
We rented out our storeroom
for the film's art gallery.
They made such a mess
I couldn't find anything!
It was weird to see
the "Ancient Gallery"
displaying
nothing but modern art.
Guillaume Lancien
was into splatter painting.
He'd fill balloons with paint
and shoot at them.
Like early Niki de Saint Phalle.
Hello, dear rose.
You're lovely, dear soul.
By "soul" you mean my body.
You're so right, dear heart.
For The Young Girls
of Rochefort,
Jacques wrote lines
really chiseled
to a fraction of an inch.
They're fantastic!
He loved the rhythms
of alexandrines.
I'd collar him. "How do I set
alexandrines to music?"
Figure something out!"
You think you know me
You like to talk a lot
But really you do not not not...
You don't know how I feel
if you did know, you'd reel
You'll never know.
Then there was that song
with the wild tempo.
We wanted it to move fast.
It was the newspaper item
about the crime.
Someone butchered a dame
by the chteau in Etiquette Lane
A wicker basket found today contained
the pieces of Plagie Rosier
I live on the street
where the crime took place.
The person I saw most
was Michel Legrand.
He'd walk by our house
scribbling notes on a pad.
When folks ask directions,
we always say,
"the scene of the crime" -
in the film, naturally.
The basket's open, the case is too
Police won't say if there's a clue
No stone will be left unturned
until the slasher's name is learned
The beast who butchered
the singer Lola-Lola
made a fuss
about cutting a cake,
but not Catherine,
who cut
the birthday cake for the film
made by the Pastry Brotherhood
of Saint-Honor,
Aunis, and Saintonge.
At the huge
open-air screening,
it rained on the young girls
of Cherbourg.
The public waited stoically under
"the umbrellas of Rochefort,"
and the rain let up... a bit.
I spoke to folks in Rochefort.
They know it by heart.
It's part of their heritage.
It belongs to them.
It's not so much
a director's film
or a star vehicle.
It belongs to the people
of Rochefort,
a gigantic home movie
that met
with worldwide acclaim.
True, Jacques and I
made 10 or 12 films
together.
A fair number of musicals.
The Young Girls of Rochefort
is our most joyous memory
and collaboration.
When the summer is gone,
when the seasons move on
When the leaves die and fall,
we only sigh about it all
But to bring back
a summer's day
Cut!
You're not together.
We're the focus,
but surrounded by a whole crew,
and the music
is an added shield.
It's like filming in the rain:
It protects and insulates you.
It's easier
than an intimate street scene
where's it just two actors.
Better to be the distant
focal point of a huge scene
with 500 people
500 yards away
than with 10 people
15 feet away.
Love your life, love the flowers
Love to laugh, love to cry
I also remember
how incredibly hot it was,
the strain of rehearsing
at the worst hours.
There were
some tense moments
due to the heat and fatigue
and the complexity of the film.
But everyone was
determined to hold on.
We knew it was a wild gamble,
a film like that
on location.
It was crazy!
Action!
By repeating
"When Summer is Gone,"
maybe it won't vanish,
or a bit less.
And to relive some
of the summer of'66,
all you have to do is film.
All you have to do is love
Love your life, love the flowers
Love to laugh, love to cry
Love the day, love the night
Love the sunshine and showers
Love the cold, love the wind
Love the cities and the fields
Love the sea, love the flames
Love the world and be happy again
Be happy again!
The memory of happiness
is perhaps also happiness.
We're a pair of twins
born under the sign of Cancer.
We're a pair of twins
born under the sign of Leo.
We're a pair of twins
born under the sign of Aries.
We're a pair of twins
born under the sign of Aries.
We're a pair of twins
born under the sign of Aquarius.
From bridge to square,
all Rochefort remembers the film
Jacques Demy shot there in 1966,
The Young Girls of Rochefort.
Tourists still ask
for "Demoiselle Square,"
and folks often reply
by singing the famous song
composed by Michel Legrand...
We are a pair of twins
Born in the sign of Gemini
We're two demoiselles
Who took to the boys long ago
Twenty-five years later...
Rochefort decided to celebrate.
A prop plane flew in guests
connected with the film,
like myself.
The star guest was of course
demoiselle Deneuve.
Mayor Jean-Louis Frot.
Welcome to Rochefort.
What a pleasure
to have you here.
We'd chosen June 5,
in memory of Jacques Demy,
born 61 Years earlier.
My name's Michel Rivaux,
and I'm here today
because I was one
of the motorcyclists
taking part
in the film's motorcade.
I still have this great cap.
It's 25 years old.
It shrank in the wash,
but it's still here.
My name's Andr Kety.
We had five Honda CB77's
for our part in the film.
I'm Christian Gurin.
I was part of
the Rochefort Bike Club too.
My cap's yellowed now,
whereas my hair's gone white.
My name's Pierre Veniel.
One of us is missing:
The fifth motorcyclist,
Guy Vinet,
whose nickname was Guitou.
We were all sort of slumbering,
a bit like in Sleeping Beauty.
That was Rochefort.
The film people came,
and we awakened.
We got up, so to speak,
from our canopy bed,
and we all began to sing.
It was marvelous!
Extraordinary!
This was the studio
for the film's first interiors.
My memory plays tricks every time.
It's much smaller.
I remembered it as bigger.
Like children
who come back and say,
"This garden used
to be so big!"
The dance studio was here.
There was so much stuff.
There were dolly tracks,
the piano,
the ballet bar, the students.
The piano
must have been there.
- No, it was over there.
- Oh, it was?
In fact, your memory
tends to blow things up.
That's where reality
and film differ.
Today we're in a real place.'
The mayor's office.
We turned it
into a shooting location.
What if they really love us?
How these linden trees
have grown!
They're sweet.
Yes, they are.
For me
it was such a timeless film,
but being here now
grounds it in reality,
because it's us, me,
25 years later.
It's still me,
whatever the pleasure
and melancholy of it.
And I hear the music
from the film outside.
There'll be balloons,
then the screening,
and the photo show.
I'll enjoy it all.
I know
it'll be melancholic too,
but I also know
there's the fact it endures,
that it continues on.
The pleasure of memory
will win out.
I won't let painful emotions
overwhelm me - I hope.
It's moving
to be back in Rochefort
25 years -
a quarter century -
after making
the great
The Young Girls of Rochefort.
I have this feeling
that if I just walk around,
carnies and sailors
will suddenly appear,
and in a perfectly natural way,
they'll all begin to dance.
And having played
Maxence back then,
I can see myself
in the sailors
I pass in the streets.
It was a film about joy.
That's what Jacques
and I wanted to make.
I've come back
to find that joy again.
It's wonderful to see
that the city decided to celebrate
a film made about the city.
It's marvelous.
The city had been
preparing for weeks.
Dance classes
buzzed with excitement.
Rehearsals inside,
balloons outside,
streamers
going up everywhere.
The music, the crane,
the loudspeakers!
I remember when we made
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.
Whatever the subject,
if you're shooting
outdoors with music,
it turns into a party.
It's a musical,
classical in form,
somewhat traditional,
but trying to create
something new
or at least
something personal.
But the characters
all sing, talk, and dance...
like in the Hollywood classics.
Jacques chose Rochefort
for its lovely and imposing
military architecture.
Jacques and I toured
French towns
built in that style.'
Saumur, La Roche-sur-Yon,
places like that.
At first he wanted Hyres
(sounds like "yesterday")
So it would be
"The Young Girls of Hyres."
But in the end,
the architecture was
more important than the wordplay,
and he chose Rochefort.
He loved Hollywood musicals.
They fed his dreams.
But he was after something
much more French and classical,
and Rochefort
was just right for it.
When we saw Colbert Square,
we jumped for joy,
because he saw
a magnificent city
that he could turn
into a celebration.
As I watched
The Young Girls of Rochefort,
suddenly,
right in the middle,
I had this image
from the past.
I suddenly saw and heard
Jacques again.
When I was a press agent
for producer
Georges de Beauregard,
we used to go over
to the Chiquito coffee,
and we'd sit there
as he described for me
the musical set pieces,
how he'd film
the dances and songs
and do what he wasn't able
to do in Lola.
And all of a sudden, I saw him
superimposed on the screen,
like a double exposure.
I saw him among the buildings
painted in every color,
I saw the Chiquito,
and I saw Demy up on the screen,
talking to me.
I even remember the color
of the sweater and jacket
he wore at the Chiquito.
- The corduroy jacket.
- Exactly.
I think Demy needed
actresses who could play
female leads who were both
distant and intimate.
And Deneuve really conveys
those qualities in the film.
Demy and Deneuve were like
Hitchcock and Grace Kelly.
I think Jacques
found something in Deneuve
he'd been searching for.'
An actress
with star quality.
You've turned out
in great numbers,
just like in 1966 to watch
the filming in this square.
I'm going to ask
Catherine Deneuve
to step up here.
You all know
Michel Legrand.
You know
his music for the film.
The set designer
who transformed
our city for the film.
Here he is!
Give him a big hand.
He's the one
who brought all that color.
I like working
with people I know,
simply because
friendship counts
and makes
the work go faster.
We understand each other.
If I tell Evein
I want a certain blue,
or ultramarine,
or a salon in blood red,
he can visualize it
on the spot.
Bernard had
over 1000 shutters repainted.
I remember the city's new colors
when we arrived,
and the population eager
to take part in the film,
looking forward
to the big party,
without even knowing
what it would be like.
What was terrific for me
was the preparation.
We worked on the dances
in England.
Norman Maen,
the choreographer,
was British,
as were the dancers.
The sisters also had to learn
to lip-synch the songs.
Two weeks in London.
We're working on the dances.
Catherine's been working
for three months,
and so have I.
I've danced before,
but not Catherine.
I'm bored
with these provincial ways
It's Paris for me
where art really pays
It was a big gamble
making me the dancer.
Franoise had ballet training
and was more suited
for the role.
But he wanted Franoise
to be the singer,
because of
her lyrical temperament,
and me to be
the dance instructor.
I had technical problems
learning the songs,
lip-synching perfectly
to the music.
It's hard to both
sing and dance.
It takes
great breath control.
And concentrating
on doing both
is very hard.
Dancing and singing
at the same time.
Let's do a run-through.
It's the English version.
I had to do some dancing
on the square.
It was awful.
And with Gene Kelly
and real dancers there!
I felt like a jerk,
because dance is a real craft,
and nothing can be left to chance,
whereas actors
can benefit from chance.
But dance requires
such precision.
I learned a lot from Gene.
He was terrific.
There were tons of things
I didn't know.
I wanted him to choreograph
the whole film, but he said no.
He'd come to France,
but just for three weeks,
so as not to be away
from his kids.
He did his numbers
and helped plan the shots.
He's a real ace,
he knows it all -
how the camera relates
to the dancers, and everything.
It took a trip
across two continents
It took
this one amazing chance
To change my life
and give it sense
It took my coming back
to France
- You came this way.
- After Kelly's scene.
- You remember everything?
- Not so well.
Twenty-five years is a long time.
But certain scenes, sure.
Especially the scene
with Gene Kelly,
who picked us
out of the whole fifth grade.
We tried out in the schoolyard.
He showed us the steps.
And just like that,
he chose me.
We went up to the car.
He danced with two sailors,
then we joined him by the car.
He jumped in
as we stood nearby.
We watched
and waved good-bye, I think.
Andrew Miller
was looking for a friend
with a music shop.
My name's Simon Dame,
and that's my problem.
When somebody comes in...
through the door,
their greeting is:
"Hello,
messieurs, dames."
Good day, Mr. Dame.
Good day, sisters.
The tragedy of my youth
is that my fiance...
couldn't stand my name,
so she left me.
She went away?
Far away?
To Mexico, with some bum.
What was this monster's name?
Dame. Simon Dame.
I'd have become
Madame Dame. Absurd!
He was a bastard!
Not at all, Papa.
Calm down.
A bastard!
Maybe so,
but he had a charming name.
"Madame Dame."
- It's amusing.
- So I did wrong?
But Jacques didn't do wrong
in choosing Danielle Darrieux
as the twins'
attractive mother.
He loved and admired her.
She was his type,
just like Catherine.
I'd known Danielle forever.
Things were so simple
and intimate with her.
We're very much alike
in not dwelling on certain things
but taking them lightly,
and in a physical resemblance
that Jacques played on.
Why must I give up on love?
She came back to Rochefort,
and we were reunited.
Life is beautiful.
I was 17
back in June of 1966.
On the first day of shooting,
I was to report to Colbert Square.
I'll never forget it,
especially because
school was in session,
and I was taking a big risk
by cutting classes.
I was often called on
to be an extra.
I got paid for it,
and my pals
were green with envy.
It ended
in a kind of weird way,
since I had to be back in class
by late June to avoid being expelled.
- I'm Didier.
- I'm Alain.
We were
the real twins in the film.
We were fifth-graders.
We were chosen,
like other child extras then,
to be in several scenes.
The film was
our first real experience of life.
A fabulous party.
We discovered
the world of cinema,
but mostly
our first romantic feelings
for the mini-demoiselles
of Rochefort.
It was quite an event,
and we ended up
writing it all down.
Impressed by this major event,
I started keeping a diary.
And I did likewise.
We were both
keeping track of things.
But we only realized it
recently.
For 25 years
we'd completely forgotten
that these diaries existed.
These notebooks survived
since I teach history,
and I still write.
I teach French.
We're both in Poitiers.
For this interview,
we looked
for any mementos.
I found
my sailor's cap here.
I found mine too.
I'd kept it.
"Catherine gave me
a half smile.
I responded
with a shy laugh."
"We like each other,
but since I wear glasses,
I take them off
to please her."
"Our eyes met inquisitively."
"Boys and girls
wore sailor suits.'
A small cap with red pompon,
a striped jersey,
white trousers,
white pleated skirts
for the girls,
tennis shoes, with white
bobby socks for the girls.
We made a triumphant entry
among the crowd,
which swayed back and forth.
A movie-made carnival!"
It seems so strange now.
All those color images
of summer! 966
were shot by me
for a little film.
A great film!
The Young Girls of Rochefort.
You were making
a film about the film,
while I filmed
what you were filming.
A film of the film
about the film.
It started out
like a family movie.
Rosalie was delighted
to be there.
So was my dear momma,
so afraid of getting in the way.
Only I would have filmed
my darling
dressing
with that special rhythm of his.
I filmed his calmness
amid the work crew,
and his dreamy smile.
As a special guest,
I could film the stars
really close up.
I filmed ordinary people too,
which I love.
We need a bench to sit on.
We can never see anything,
so we listen.
Are you enjoying the music?
We stayed,
so it can't be bad.
Which do you prefer?
They look so much alike.
If only they had
the same hair color.
I guess
they must be twins, right?
We arrived on the set
like two teenagers,
since we recovered
something
of the way
we'd lived at home.
At that moment in our lives,
she lived near my parents,
but I already had a son.
We'd lost our sisterly bond,
but we renewed
that sisterly bond
before the film,
and all through the film.
I felt this melancholy
when we went home,
her to her loves,
me to my life.
But I'd recovered something
I had missed.
Lucky we aren't real twins.
How awful!
- That's true.
- It would be awful.
But it's nice being twins
for Jacques,
and with my own sister.
Though there are
minor problems.
She dares to hit me!
This was a film
Jacques made
to have the two of us
together in a film
and recreate a music
that resembled our life tempo.
With our feet on the ground
we have flights of fantasy
Hearing the twins
in English, in French,
on prerecorded tracks
25 times a day
starts to make
your head buzz.
We are delicate souls,
two romantics
In love with art,
music, and antics
Where's that man?
The man we long to find
Mr. Right...
A few faults we won't mind
I embodied the ideal male
as Jacques saw it,
or maybe convention,
the same way I did
for Deneuve's character.
And I was amazed.
Why me?
I didn't know Demy.
I often wanted
to discuss it with him,
figure out the why and how,
that special link.
We made the entire film
with no other link
than what emerged
in the moment of filming.
Things happened intuitively,
and when it was over,
I lost touch with Jacques.
I figured that was
the way it had to be.
I know his films
better than I do him.
But sometimes you get to know
people through their work.
In that sense,
I know Jacques rather well.
Maybe try Maxence's song.
Is he near or far?
Could he be in Rochefort?
I'm sure to meet him
I know he does exist
Whatever reason says,
my heart tells me more
Its reign, its law
is something one can't resist
And resist I never will
Sweetie, guys like that
don't hang out in Rochefort.
For Jacques,
it's a romantic vision
from the great movie melodramas.
Life has several phases.
If it's not
meant to happen, well -
But romance might always
come along later.
It's like there's a time lag,
these desires
that are out of sync.
So there's always
a melancholy feeling.
Maxence's theme is romantic
because so is he.
She is my only love,
but what good is a dream?
I've searched all over,
but she's nowhere to be seen
Dear Jacques,
your romanticism is contagious
Every bartly has made
the same wish
To find the great romance
But what good is a dream?
A four-month party.
Shopkeepers were delighted.
Everybody was.
It really gave us all a lift,
and we needed it,
I have to admit.
It brought in
lots of new customers.
There was a real
holiday atmosphere.
I can tell you
another story.
A good friend of mine,
the daughter of a local jeweler,
married a "film roller."
A charming story.
Perhaps they were married
by Mr. Gaury.
He was mayor then.
I really have so little time.
Here's the current mayor
posing beside a pot of begonias,
a plant from Martinique,
imported by Father Plumier
at the time Begon
was intendant to Louis XIV.
It was renamed
in honor of Madame Begon.'
"Begonia."
Rochefort is famous
for four things.'
!) begonias of all varieties,
2) writer Pierre Loti
and his orientalist fancies,
3) The Young Girls of Rochefort,
and by extension,
4) twins.
The shoot was a genuine
highlight in local history.
For four months,
the town
was abuzz with activity
because of what
was going on...
Chakiris, Gene Kelly...
the twins dancing and singing
on Colbert Square.
It was extraordinary.
Lots of music,
lots of striking images,
lots of movement.
And I must say that
because
of all the excitement
and the stepped-up rhythm of life
in town for four months,
1966, when the film
was made,
was probably
Year One
in the rebirth of Rochefort.
That's when
we began to say,
"Though the shipyards
have closed,
the town can live again."
Today, it's a fact.
The arsenal was restored,
along with the rope factory.
They house
the Oceanic Center,
the Bird Preservation League,
a library,
and a media center.
It's also
a popular Sunday stroll.
Speaking of photos,
the rope factory is exhibiting
photos from Jacques's films,
notably
The Young Girls of Rochefort.
Back to the Charente river,
back to "go" -
the bridge and the opening credits.
We're here
at the transporter bridge,
now a landmark.
At the foot
of this bridge,
the first and last scenes
of The Young Girls
were shot.
It thus seemed natural
that the road to the bridge
be named after Jacques Demy,
in the presence of
Agns Varda,
Mathieu Demy, their son,
Hlne Demy,
sister of Jacques Demy,
as well as those
we all know-
Catherine Deneuve,
Bernard Evein,
Michel Legrand,
and Mag Bodard,
without whom
we wouldn't be here today,
since she was the producer
of The Young Girls.
It's a major film,
an American-style production,
shot in two languages,
but made
with French financing.
A huge budget for France,
but French nevertheless.
Of course
it's a big risk to take,
with exteriors,
meaning we're
at the mercy of the weather,
since it's a film
requiring sunshine.
But as the one bearing
all the responsibility,
I know I'll win in the end,
which helps me take the risks.
But I believe in the film,
and I believe
in Jacques Demy.
I'm going
to ask Agns Varda
to christen this avenue.
Hlne, then.
Jacques was
like a brother to me.
A long time ago I dedicated
much more
than a street to him:
It was a main artery
of my life,
an artery
leading from my heart.
Now for another
emotional moment.'
Rochefort wished
to remember Franoise Dorlac.
That's Christiane Fageolle.
She was Franoise's dresser,
then Catherine's.
You are among
those who have worked
for the honor
of French cinema.
This site will bear Franoise
Dorlac's name from now on.
Young girls dream of acting.
Even if only as an extra.
I was unemployed.
So a girlfriend said,
"I'm appearing in the film.
I can introduce you."
I was hired on the spot.
The cops spoke English
for the English version,
so the extras in the scene
were in the dark
about both the crime
and Solange's love affairs.
So we reshot it
once, twice, three times.
The takes were endless.
They didn't get
the standard joke
Maxence makes about his leave.'
"My leave's immi-Nantes!"
Because in English
the pun became...
"A born loser in Toulouse."
So the sailor born in Nantes
ended up a loser from Toulouse.
Poor Maxence!
Behind
those light-hearted scenes,
there was, as in most films,
the counterweight of technique.'
The crane, dollies, tracks.
Franoise,
you take two steps.
Take one, two, three
steps that way.
Not quite so far.
Mark those two spots,
please.
Jacques set up the shots
looking through the camera.
Pause on "two."
Then dolly in and crane down
simultaneously.
You got your end mark?
That's all it is.
Our Belgian friend
Andrew Delvaux
filmed this scene of Jacques
turning the camera over
to Ghislain Cloquet,
master of image and light.
Don't be fooled.
I make it look easy,
but it's not.
We had a week
of pure blue sky.
Checking test shots.
This footage is in black and white,
but the negative was in color.
Next, the director
focuses on his actors.
At the same instant as Gene.
You two have to be
in perfect synch.
You both go
to pick up the things.
What we need here -
"Don't mention it."
You have to -
At some point
you drop your score.
Miss, your slip is showing.
"Miss, your slip is showing."
Make it tight.
That abruptness is good.
Cut! Lunch break.
We'll pick up at! '45.
Everyone to the Grand Bacha,
as usual.
I was matre
at the Grand Bacha.
We had to serve
150 people.
We had to be quick.
There was
no distinction made
between actors,
electricians,
or any of the crew.
Everyone sat together.
Back to work after lunch.
Jacques consults
with script supervisor Annie Maurel.
There go Claude Miller
and Alain Franchet,
his assistants.
Shooting finally resumes.
Action!
- Are you a musician?
- Yes.
Good-bye.
Miss, your slip is showing.
I know, but it doesn't matter.
Miss...
may I see you again?
I don't know.
I don't think so.
Come on.
That guy's got some nerve.
For The Young Girls,
if I'd been born a bit earlier,
I'd have liked
to play Boubou.
Jacques was my granddad.
He'd screen
16 mm films for me.
He'd say, "You wanna watch
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg?"
Wanna watch
The Young Girls of Rochefort?"
And I'd say, "Sure!"
I've seen The Young Girls
of Rochefort 30 times,
because I really love it.
There are works
that are part of my life.
Books like Elie Wiesel's
The Testament,
music like
Bach's cello suites,
and two films:
Jean Cocteau's Orpheus,
and Demy's
The Young Girls of Rochefort.
In fact, when I travel
or I'm away from home,
I take along the cassette of
The Young Girls of Rochefort.
That's not a plug.
It's my life.
It's also the life
of cheese-eating mice who turn into
the "Demouselles of Roquefort,"
created by
Pierre Beaucousin,
high school senior.
I bounce between teaching
and being a cinephile.
I'm Marc Le Gouard,
and I teach kindergarten.
Before I came here,
I'd only seen postcard
aerial views of the city.
Seen from above,
it looked like a waffle iron.
When I moved here
to Rochefort,
I had all these images
from the film in my head.
I lived more in the film
than in the city itself.
It's a dull town,
with its daily routines.
In the street,
I'd imagine people dancing
and singing.
Deep down,
I always felt that magic,
those melodies,
that atmosphere.
Marc rendered
that atmosphere
as figures of the "young girls"
for his kids to color.
This is by Tony, who's 31 I2.
This one, full of life,
movement, and color,
is by Anamandine.
These are in stripes.
This one's colorful too.
Providence School,
first grade.
Children, show us
your pretty pictures.
Hold them up high.
The subject.' the town square
and the "young girls."
That's the square.
The young girls of Rochefort,
in dresses and hats.
Speaking of timeless
and stunning costumes,
Jacques clipped photos
of dresses by Courrges,
straight and loose-fitting,
and dreamed up
extravagant hats.
A stylistic blend of the '60s
and the! 900s,
like the fantasy he projected onto
the rectilinear streets of the city.
He spoke
to Jacqueline Moreau,
and she designed
the dresses.
The same pattern
for mother and daughters.
Only the color of the fabric
and trim varied.
The hats
were by Jean Barthet.
- Hi, Solange.
- Hi, pumpkin.
Your slip's showing.
Twenty-five years ago
we played children
coming out of school.
Deneuve and Dorlac came
to fetch Boubou, our classmate.
We were told
to hold hands
and run to our mommies.
I ran
to Mommy Dominique.
I'm Dominique.
I was 15.
I played the mommy.
I'm Jol, and I was 11.
I played her son.
We were strangers then,
just extras in the film.
We met again in '73
in a factory,
where we'd both found jobs.
We became friends
and then got married.
We have a little girl now.
So you married
your mother?
In a way, yes.
She played my mother
when I was a kid.
Now she's my little lady.
The plot
means nothing to me.
It's a general feeling,
a moment in life,
just moments of existence.
Call it scenes
from provincial life.
Odd provincial life,
where ladies in see-through slickers
leave their kids
where they might drown
to go cavort
with the barrack boys!
Jacques saw
the provinces with a smile.
Jacques's strength lay
in having
a vision of what he wanted.
He wasn't out to impress.
It was him, his style.
It was him, his imagination.'
Miniskirts and sailor suits...
since sailors are more fun.
I'm Captain Camescasse
of the Rochefort
Naval Aeronautic Base.
I was a young sailor
at the time.
We were asked to come
to the square in uniform
as extras.
We've had it
with sailors, girls, and boats.
Grover Dale came from New York,
and George Chakiris had shone
in West Side Story.
It was amazing to see
George Chakiris and Gene Kelly
here on the town square.
We go from town to town
The future's an unknown
A pretty girl lends a hand
and life is grand
- Today here
- Tomorrow there
Our life's a romance,
a melody composed by chance
Full of new delights
We prefer joy to misery
Intelligence to stupidity
Straight talk to hypocrisy
And gentle arms to gendarmes
We go from fair to fair
Folks point and stare
They call us carnies
Amid the floating balloons
and the fleeting ballets,
did Catherine recall
the nutty rehearsals
that I'd filmed without sound?
I'd suggested
Braque, Matisse, Picasso.
Jacques said, "No, I want paintings
that maybe aren't beautiful,
but more modern,
pseudo-contemporary."
So we created
some fake canvases.
We rented out our storeroom
for the film's art gallery.
They made such a mess
I couldn't find anything!
It was weird to see
the "Ancient Gallery"
displaying
nothing but modern art.
Guillaume Lancien
was into splatter painting.
He'd fill balloons with paint
and shoot at them.
Like early Niki de Saint Phalle.
Hello, dear rose.
You're lovely, dear soul.
By "soul" you mean my body.
You're so right, dear heart.
For The Young Girls
of Rochefort,
Jacques wrote lines
really chiseled
to a fraction of an inch.
They're fantastic!
He loved the rhythms
of alexandrines.
I'd collar him. "How do I set
alexandrines to music?"
Figure something out!"
You think you know me
You like to talk a lot
But really you do not not not...
You don't know how I feel
if you did know, you'd reel
You'll never know.
Then there was that song
with the wild tempo.
We wanted it to move fast.
It was the newspaper item
about the crime.
Someone butchered a dame
by the chteau in Etiquette Lane
A wicker basket found today contained
the pieces of Plagie Rosier
I live on the street
where the crime took place.
The person I saw most
was Michel Legrand.
He'd walk by our house
scribbling notes on a pad.
When folks ask directions,
we always say,
"the scene of the crime" -
in the film, naturally.
The basket's open, the case is too
Police won't say if there's a clue
No stone will be left unturned
until the slasher's name is learned
The beast who butchered
the singer Lola-Lola
made a fuss
about cutting a cake,
but not Catherine,
who cut
the birthday cake for the film
made by the Pastry Brotherhood
of Saint-Honor,
Aunis, and Saintonge.
At the huge
open-air screening,
it rained on the young girls
of Cherbourg.
The public waited stoically under
"the umbrellas of Rochefort,"
and the rain let up... a bit.
I spoke to folks in Rochefort.
They know it by heart.
It's part of their heritage.
It belongs to them.
It's not so much
a director's film
or a star vehicle.
It belongs to the people
of Rochefort,
a gigantic home movie
that met
with worldwide acclaim.
True, Jacques and I
made 10 or 12 films
together.
A fair number of musicals.
The Young Girls of Rochefort
is our most joyous memory
and collaboration.
When the summer is gone,
when the seasons move on
When the leaves die and fall,
we only sigh about it all
But to bring back
a summer's day
Cut!
You're not together.
We're the focus,
but surrounded by a whole crew,
and the music
is an added shield.
It's like filming in the rain:
It protects and insulates you.
It's easier
than an intimate street scene
where's it just two actors.
Better to be the distant
focal point of a huge scene
with 500 people
500 yards away
than with 10 people
15 feet away.
Love your life, love the flowers
Love to laugh, love to cry
I also remember
how incredibly hot it was,
the strain of rehearsing
at the worst hours.
There were
some tense moments
due to the heat and fatigue
and the complexity of the film.
But everyone was
determined to hold on.
We knew it was a wild gamble,
a film like that
on location.
It was crazy!
Action!
By repeating
"When Summer is Gone,"
maybe it won't vanish,
or a bit less.
And to relive some
of the summer of'66,
all you have to do is film.
All you have to do is love
Love your life, love the flowers
Love to laugh, love to cry
Love the day, love the night
Love the sunshine and showers
Love the cold, love the wind
Love the cities and the fields
Love the sea, love the flames
Love the world and be happy again
Be happy again!
The memory of happiness
is perhaps also happiness.
We're a pair of twins
born under the sign of Cancer.
We're a pair of twins
born under the sign of Leo.
We're a pair of twins
born under the sign of Aries.
We're a pair of twins
born under the sign of Aries.
We're a pair of twins
born under the sign of Aquarius.