There's a tendency to underrate musicals because they offer such unadulterated pleasures. Surely, they must be superficial, or at best express only excellence in craft. But that's superficial thinking. There's no rule that something that makes us feel bad is better than something that makes us feel good. They're all part of the same pallette of expression, occupying different ends. The Young Girls of Rochefort inhabits the slot for enchantment.

424

IT WILL MELT YOUR HEART

A much more standard musical than Umbrellas of Cherbourg, but it's still one of the most unadulterated and pure musicals out there. This is a very very good thing. "We love catch tunes, silly puns and repartee." And how!

Eye-popping! Blows most American musicals out of the park with its energetic acting and dancing, catchy score, elegant plot, stunning visuals and fluent camerawork. While "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" fills you with a wonderful melancholic sadness, this leaves you with a big smile on your face.

Pure joy. Jacques Demy completes his trilogy of glorious masterpieces with this ode to love that is utterly romantic in the most genuine and most comprehensive sense. There are simply too many superb elements to list in the space of this review. Suffice to say that Demy's movies have an emotional effect upon me unlike those of any other. It is almost impossible not to believe that this 1967 movie represents the achievement of some kind of pinnacle, before the world took a wrong turn, downhill.

#456

As light-hearted and optimistic as film gets. The movie is designed to put a smile on your face from start to finish, and succeeds wildly. The contrived, intertwining romances, the song-and-dance numbers, the eye-popping use of color (all those gorgeous pastel outfits), the wholly charming cast of characters, the sheer playfulness of the entire production, and, oh yeah, Catherine Deneuve looking stunning...what's not to love?

For the most part I enjoyed this. Musicals are one of my least explored genres so it's nice to get to see one of the better ones. Though it was hard for me to get over the cheesiness throughout, I appreciated it for its bright, colorful cinematography, its beautiful sets and its optimistic feel. And I loved the ending. I do wish the film had more Gene Kelly though.

Watch it twice and your hooked, I''ve watched it 10.5 times so far.

For the most part highly enjoyable, I love the energy, colour and optimism of it all. There are some really wonderful moments here, and it's often very, very fun. That said, I can't help but be irritated by how shallow some of the characters are: the attraction between the two main couples seems to be based entirely on looks, and yet the film wants us to think that it is the most romantic thing ever (which it really, really isn't). The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is quite a bit better.

A wholly conventional musical. It certainly has a stunning colour palette and a sense of pure fun about it, but it also embodies everything I dislike about musicals with its complete disregard of even internal consistency for the sake of random dance numbers. Still, I can't deny it has a quality that other people will enjoy, just not me.

While Cherbourg transforms reality into a musical, Rochefort pretty much obliterates reality with a musical. The characters aren't merely speaking their dialogue in melody, it's more like they can't help but burst into song. At any rate, it's a less interesting, experimental form and more of a standard musical, but it's entertaining and charming enough to be worthwhile. Very exuberant and fun to watch with all the vibrant primary colors. Some of the songs aren't very distinctive, though.

# 288

Romance flicks are a bit of a guilty pleasure for me (As is Bollywood) and this is pretty damn good

from painstakingly coloured-in houses to endless french fries nobody ever actually seems to eat (or cook for that matter), once you chair-dance your way through a couple of hours in rochefort, it's where you'll want to spend the rest of your life.

417

Not on the same level as Cherbourg. So pretty though the camera that can never seem to stop is a bit of a nuisance.