Once considered a minor figure of the French New Wave due to the so-called “apolitical” nature of his oeuvre, Jacques Demy is now indisputably a major figure in film history. Moving beyond didacticism and contemporary fads, his cinema is filled with a poetic romanticism that finds mystique in everyday places and, in turn, captures human truths in whimsical fairy tales. While the director has worked in a variety of genres, the one constant that remains throughout his eclectic filmography is an indefatigable curiosity. The World of Jacques Demy (1995), Agnès Varda’s loving documentary tribute to her husband, traces his artistic zest to Nantes, the seaside port where the filmmaker spent his formative years. In between adolescent reveries, his childhood was marred by the trauma of wartime bombings. Joy and sorrow, happiness and loss—these dual forces would soon undergird his filmmaking career.
Demy’s sensitivity to the intricacies of place was already apparent in his feature-length debut. Lola (1961) is the first of the director’s innumerable great romances gently tucked away in small coastal towns. In these locations, a feeling of transience is in the air, embodied by the fleet of sailors that come and go. Yet, on these very same cobbled streets, young love also blossoms ferociously. Lola, along with the candy-colored The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) and The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967), constitutes Demy’s “romantic trilogy” where loving and maturing appear to be the same journey, at once staggering and fleeting. In his sung-through musicals, the dialogue beams with the headiness of youthful devotion that slowly ripens into a bittersweet acceptance of life changes. A Room in Town (1982), a late-career musical, remains Demy’s most explicitly political work. Following a doomed affair that unravels amid a historic labor strike, the film harks back to the somber fatalism of Bay of Angels (1963), in which infatuation and addiction whip up a vortex of desire. Whether embodied by Anouk Aimée, Catherine Deneuve, or Jeanne Moreau, the figure of the enigmatic woman is at the center of Demy’s universe. She can love with all of her heart and soul, and she can also leave without a goodbye.
Though grounded in specific locales and traditions, Demy’s universe would not exist without a hefty dose of fantasy. Donkey Skin (1970), his surreal adaptation of a famous fairy tale, draws out the unspoken taboos hidden beneath a beloved fable. Impossible events leap off the page and enter the real world in A Slightly Pregnant Man (1973), a farcical comedy that dares to imagine scruffy patriarchs taking on child-bearing responsibilities. Odes to both amorous yearnings and everyday miracles, Demy’s symphonic films are poetry in motion. To watch his work is to let ourselves be swept up in cinematic tides of infatuation, longing, and melancholy, taking us to dazzling emotional realms.

Once considered a minor figure of the French New Wave due to the so-called &#8220;apolitical&#8221; nature of his oeuvre, Jacques Demy is now indisputably a major figure in film history. Moving beyond didacticism and contemporary fads, his cinema is filled with a poetic romanticism that finds mystique in everyday places and, in turn, captures human truths in whimsical fairy tales. While the director has worked in a variety of genres, the one constant that remains throughout his eclectic filmography is an indefatigable curiosity. The World of Jacques Demy (1995), Agnès Varda&#8217;s loving documentary tribute to her husband, traces his artistic zest to Nantes, the seaside port where the filmmaker spent his formative years. In between adolescent reveries, his childhood was marred by the trauma of wartime bombings. Joy and sorrow, happiness and loss&#8212;these dual forces would soon undergird his filmmaking career.
Demy&#8217;s sensitivity to the intricacies of place was already apparent in his feature-length debut. Lola (1961) is the first of the director&#8217;s innumerable great romances gently tucked away in small coastal towns. In these locations, a feeling of transience is in the air, embodied by the fleet of sailors that come and go. Yet, on these very same cobbled streets, young love also blossoms ferociously. Lola, along with the candy-colored The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) and The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967), constitutes Demy&#8217;s &#8220;romantic trilogy&#8221; where loving and maturing appear to be the same journey, at once staggering and fleeting. In his sung-through musicals, the dialogue beams with the headiness of youthful devotion that slowly ripens into a bittersweet acceptance of life changes. A Room in Town (1982), a late-career musical, remains Demy&#8217;s most explicitly political work. Following a doomed affair that unravels amid a historic labor strike, the film harks back to the somber fatalism of Bay of Angels (1963), in which infatuation and addiction whip up a vortex of desire. Whether embodied by Anouk Aimée, Catherine Deneuve, or Jeanne Moreau, the figure of the enigmatic woman is at the center of Demy&#8217;s universe. She can love with all of her heart and soul, and she can also leave without a goodbye.
Though grounded in specific locales and traditions, Demy&#8217;s universe would not exist without a hefty dose of fantasy. Donkey Skin (1970), his surreal adaptation of a famous fairy tale, draws out the unspoken taboos hidden beneath a beloved fable. Impossible events leap off the page and enter the real world in A Slightly Pregnant Man (1973), a farcical comedy that dares to imagine scruffy patriarchs taking on child-bearing responsibilities. Odes to both amorous yearnings and everyday miracles, Demy&#8217;s symphonic films are poetry in motion. To watch his work is to let ourselves be swept up in cinematic tides of infatuation, longing, and melancholy, taking us to dazzling emotional realms.

The World of Jacques Demy

THE WORLD OF JACQUES DEMY

Joy and sorrow, happiness and loss—between these dual forces exists the wondrous world of Jacques Demy, where heady emotions spill out of everyday life. From candy-colored musicals to fantastical adventures, his dazzlingly poetic cinema will sweep you off your feet.

Joy and sorrow, happiness and loss&#8212;between these dual forces exists the wondrous world of Jacques Demy, where heady emotions spill out of everyday life. From candy-colored musicals to fantastical adventures, his dazzlingly poetic cinema will sweep you off your feet.