- Jacques Demy
Infobox Actor
bgcolour = silver
name = Jacques Demy
birthdate =June 5 ,1931
location =Pontchâteau ,Loire-Atlantique ,Pays-de-la-Loire ,France
deathdate =October 27 ,1990
deathplace =Paris , Île-de-France,France
spouse =Agnès Varda (1962–90)
yearsactive = 1955–88Jacques Demy (
June 5 ,1931 –October 27 ,1990 ) was one of the most approachable filmmakers to appear in the wake of theFrench New Wave . Uninterested in the formal experimentation ofAlain Resnais , or the political agitation ofJean-Luc Godard , Demy instead created a self-contained fantasy world closer to that ofFrançois Truffaut , drawing on musicals, fairytales and the golden age of Hollywood.Career
After working with the animator
Paul Grimault and the filmmakerGeorges Rouquier , Demy directed his first feature film, "Lola", in 1961, withAnouk Aimée playing the eponymous cabaret singer. The Demy universe here emerges fully-fledged. Characters burst into song (courtesy of composer and lifelong Demy-collaboratorMichel Legrand ); iconicHollywood imagery is lovingly appropriated as in the opening scene with the man in a white Stetson in the Cadillac, daringly set to Beethoven's "Seventh Symphony"); plot is dictated by the director's fascination with fate, and stock themes of chance encounters and long-lost love; and the setting, as with so many of Demy's films, is the French Atlantic coast of his childhood, specifically the seaport town ofNantes ."
La Baie des Anges " ("The Bay of Angels", 1963), starringJeanne Moreau , took the theme of fate further, with its story of love at the roulette tables.Most impressive of all was his musical, "
Les Parapluies de Cherbourg " ("The Umbrellas of Cherbourg ", 1964). Although the subversion of established genres was a typically New Wave obsession (notably Godard's playful thriller-cum-sci-fi, "Alphaville"), Demy was unusual in actually recreating them literally. The whimsical concept — rare in musicals — of singing all the dialogue sets the tone for this tragedy of the everyday. The film also sees the emergence of Demy's trademark visual style: whereas "Lola", filmed by Godard's cinematographerRaoul Coutard , has a New Wave black and white austerity, "Les Parapluies" is shot in saturated supercolour, with every tiny detail — neck-ties, wallpaper, evenCatherine Deneuve 's bleach-blonde hair — selected for maximum visual impact. Interestingly, the young man, Roland Cassard, from "Lola" (Marc Michel ) reappears here, marrying Deneuve: such reappearances are typical of Demy's work.He never quite recaptured the brilliance of these first three films, although he was rarely dull. "
Les Demoiselles de Rochefort " (1967), another Deneuve musical, has some of the best French songs of the period, and an engaging cameo from an agingGene Kelly , in which Kelly speaks and sings in French. Lola reappears in the unusually experimental Model Shop (1969), his first American film. "Peau d'Âne " ("Donkey Skin", 1970) is a visually extravagant, if rather literal, interpretation of a fairytale, again with Deneuve.Subsequent films are less highly regarded, but may well be due for reappraisal: David Thomson wrote about "the fascinating application of the operatic technique to an unusually dark story" in "
Une chambre en ville " ("A Room in Town", 1982). After years of neglect, Demy's strengths have been recognized and a restored "Parapluies de Cherbourg" was digitally restored and reissued to great acclaim in 1998.Demy was the husband of fellow director
Agnès Varda , whose documentary, "Jacquot de Nantes ", was a loving account of Demy's childhood, and his life-long love of theatre and cinema.Jacques Demy died at age 61 in 1990 of cerebral hemorrhage and was interred in the Montparnasse Cemetery in
Montparnasse .Select filmography
* "Lola" (1960)
* "La Luxure", episode in "Les Sept Péchés Capitaux " (1961)
* "La Baie des Anges " (1962)
* "Les Parapluies de Cherbourg " (1964)
* "Les Demoiselles de Rochefort " (1967)
* "Model Shop" (1969)
* "Peau d'Âne " ("The Donkey Skin" or "The Magic Donkey") (1970)
* "The Pied Piper" (1972)
* "L'événement le plus important depuis que l'homme a marché sur la lune " ("The slightly pregnant man") (1973)
* "Lady Oscar" (1979)
* "La Naissance du Jour " (made for TV, 1979)
* "Une chambre en ville " ("A room in town") (1982)
* "Parking" (1982)
* "La table tournante " (1988)
* "Trois places pour le 26 " (1988)References
Books
*Thomson, David (1975). "Biographical Dictionary of Film" (3rd ed.). London: Andre Deutsch. ISBN 0-233-98953-6
Magazines
*Rafferty, Terrence (Apr. 16, 1996). The Past Recaptured. "The New Yorker".
External links
*Acquarello (1998). [http://www.filmref.com/directors/dirpages/demy.html Strictly Film School: Jacques Demy]
*imdb name|id=0218840|name=Jacques Demy
*senses|id=directors/03/demy|name=Jacques Demy
* [http://www.salon.com/ent/movies/reviews/1998/09/18reviewd.html Article about Demy's film The Young Girls of Rochefort]
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