Jacques Demy on DVD
- Michael
- Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 12:09 pm
Jacques Demy on DVD
Does anyone know what's up with Bay of Angels? If I'm not mistaken, the DVD is out of print and I'm desparate looking for it. Help?
Last edited by Michael on Wed Jan 30, 2008 1:30 pm, edited 2 times in total.
- domino harvey
- Dot Com Dom
- Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm
- domino harvey
- Dot Com Dom
- Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm
- Michael
- Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 12:09 pm
Amazon and BN have Lola in stock right now so for those of you who are skeptical of Lola, don't be. As much as I love almost every Demy film, Lola is the only Demy film that lingers with me for years - beautiful delicate cinematography that burns my mind like a memory of love lost long ago.
Does anyone have an opinion of Varda's documentary The World of Jacques Demy?
Does anyone have an opinion of Varda's documentary The World of Jacques Demy?
- domino harvey
- Dot Com Dom
- Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm
- jguitar
- Joined: Mon Jan 09, 2006 2:46 pm
It's been a few years, but I think it's a lovely film. It's best to see it alongside Varda's other Demy docs: Jacquot de Nantes and Les Demoiselles ont eu 25 ans. They're all lyrical meditations on Demy's work, but L'Univers is the most clearly nostalgic, in my opinion. It's lovely seeing everyone so long after the films came out, and it really seems like a gathering of friends after many years. I need to rewatch L'Univers before I say more and start sounding like an idiot (or even more like one, as the case may be).Michael wrote:Does anyone have an opinion of Varda's documentary The World of Jacques Demy?
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- Joined: Mon Jun 25, 2007 2:33 am
I think I prefer Angels to Lola, but I agree with Harvey Domino (hereafter HD) on which of Demy's is best.Michael wrote:Amazon and BN have Lola in stock right now so for those of you who are skeptical of Lola, don't be. As much as I love almost every Demy film, Lola is the only Demy film that lingers with me for years - beautiful delicate cinematography that burns my mind like a memory of love lost long ago.
- justeleblanc
- Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 6:05 pm
- Location: Connecticut
- Michael
- Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 12:09 pm
The Young Girls of Rochefort = Demy's best film!? Hmm, I'm going to have to revisit that film. Based on my memory of seeing it a few years ago, I felt it was too long (1/2 hour too long) and slow, dragged in various places of the film. The editing work could use some tightening up. In all, it was a very lovely film - guys with perky butts in white go go boots, girls with big hair, big hats. I remember loving Catharine Deneuve and her sister (can't remember her name) "Asian-shimming" in their "putain" red gowns toward the camera, the viewers - very gorgeous!I think I prefer Angels to Lola, but I agree with Harvey Domino (hereafter HD) on which of Demy's is best.
- Via_Chicago
- Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2006 12:03 pm
Sony has had a restored print for some time I think. I say this only because I just saw it, oh, this past Tuesday. The print is nice, the film, a drag.justeleblanc wrote:A new print will be touring with a Demy retrospective this year... if a DVD comes it will come after that.davidhare wrote:Needless to say there has been no further word on Sony releasing the restored Model Shop.
- justeleblanc
- Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 6:05 pm
- Location: Connecticut
- Lino
- Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 6:18 am
- Location: Sitting End
- Contact:
- Barmy
- Joined: Mon May 16, 2005 3:59 pm
In Model Shop, Anouk is boring and sexless (as, for that matter, is Gary Lockwood). There is zero chemistry. It's also very awkward, in the way that American art films by European directors can be. The film is watchable only for its period charm and some ok outdoor cinematography.
Parking, on the other hand, is a stone classic.
Parking, on the other hand, is a stone classic.
- Via_Chicago
- Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2006 12:03 pm
I had remembered what you'd written in the Model Shop DVD thread after I had seen the film and I was a little confused. Lockwood gives his best Bressonian performance, but in a context that doesn't call for it at all; in other words, it became abundantly clear why he was cast in 2001. Here he's just utterly vapid - no facial expressions, no intonation of voice, nothing. He's not only an unsympathetic character, but he's totally uninteresting. Attractive? Maybe. But man...(According to the hardly-reliable IMDB, Demy actually wanted to cast a young Harrison Ford in the lead role, but the studio balked - of course it didn't matter since the film was a flop anyway).davidhare wrote:I'm hoping you're all wrong about Model Shop - but I havent seen it in over 30 years. I certainly liked Gary Lockwood in it (hubba hubba) but Anouk is - as I recall - a total pain. It's a miracle he ever got such a sympathetic performance out of her in Lola. Cukor came to loathe her during the shoot of Justine. And it shows. "She just never even TRIED" he said.
Peau d'Ane is of some interest, if misguidedly whimsical. At least there's Delphine Seyrig playing a fairy (a real one.)
Anouk is great in Lola, but here she's just totally boring. Not only is there zero chemistry with Lockwood, but she delivers a flat out boring performance. Barmy is right, she also delivers about zero sex appeal.
The film itself suffers because of this. Still, its opening tracking shot is lovely, and it picks up briefly during the lovely driving scenes where Lockwood cruises around late 60s Los Angeles (which is why the film receives some prominent placement in Thom Anderson's great essay film Los Angeles Plays Itself) and during his first visit to the Model Shop of the title (if only for the idea of such a place actually existing).
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- Joined: Mon Jun 25, 2007 2:33 am
You neglect to mention its best feature, Michel Legrand's songs.Michael wrote:Based on my memory of seeing it a few years ago, I felt it was too long (1/2 hour too long) and slow, dragged in various places of the film. The editing work could use some tightening up. In all, it was a very lovely film - guys with perky butts in white go go boots, girls with big hair, big hats. I remember loving Catharine Deneuve and her sister (can't remember her name) "Asian-shimming" in their "putain" red gowns toward the camera, the viewers - very gorgeous!
- martin
- Joined: Thu Dec 13, 2007 8:16 am
- Contact:
I've uploaded som screenshots from Optimum's Peau d'âne (available in the Deneuve Collection) in the Screen Capture thread.
It is beautiful, anamorphic, but with burnt-in subs.
It is beautiful, anamorphic, but with burnt-in subs.
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- Joined: Mon Jun 25, 2007 2:33 am
Then go to amazon at once and buy the soundtrack CD. You not only get all the material from the movie, there's also a bonus disc that includes instrumental versions, one of which is an amazing rendition of "Chanson de Maxence" by Phil Woods.Michael wrote:I'm embarrassed to say I can't single out any one of the songs.You neglect to mention its best feature, Michel Legrand's songs.
- zedz
- Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm
This info is apparently correct, as it appears in Varda's L'Univers documentary as well, with Ford on hand to back it up.Via_Chicago wrote:(According to the hardly-reliable IMDB, Demy actually wanted to cast a young Harrison Ford in the lead role, but the studio balked - of course it didn't matter since the film was a flop anyway).
- tojoed
- Joined: Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:47 am
- Location: Cambridge, England
Re: Jacques Demy on DVD
Michael wrote:Does anyone know what's up with Bay of Angels? If I'm not mistaken, the DVD is out of print and I'm desparate loo
king for it. Help?
I bought "Bay of Angels" in December 2007 from playusa.com. I checked today and they still have it for sale.
- tojoed
- Joined: Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:47 am
- Location: Cambridge, England
Also available is "The Cinema de Michel Legrand - Nouvelle Vague", which has tracks from "Lola" and "Bay of Angels". Also, a little off topic, the full theme and 12 variations he wrote for "Vivre sa Vie", of which Godard used only the first eight bars.Jack Phillips wrote:Then go to amazon at once and buy the soundtrack CD. You not only get all the material from the movie, there's also a bonus disc that includes instrumental versions, one of which is an amazing rendition of "Chanson de Maxence" by Phil Woods.Michael wrote:I'm embarrassed to say I can't single out any one of the songs.You neglect to mention its best feature, Michel Legrand's songs.
- Michael
- Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 12:09 pm
Just finished watching Demy's musicals - Umbrellas of Cherbourg and The Young Girls of Rochefort - back to back. I've always loved Cherbourg for not only its very beautiful lovers but for its sweet snowy melancholy and emotional complexity. It's tight and precise. While Young Girls is the opposite, it's silly, loose, rambling, repetitive. And way too long. I don't know why but I ached for Gene Kelly - Dorleac so embrassingly awkward dancing in his arms. That made me long for the luminosity of Astaire and Charisse.
All that brings me to question this: some of you find Young Girls to be superior to Umbrellas or even Demy's best film. I'm immeasurably perplexed by that. Please explain why.
All that brings me to question this: some of you find Young Girls to be superior to Umbrellas or even Demy's best film. I'm immeasurably perplexed by that. Please explain why.
- domino harvey
- Dot Com Dom
- Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm
Because it's one of the most joyous, superbly realized crystallizations of everything that makes a musical great-- it is unquestionably Demy's best film, and one of the greatest musicals of all time. I like Umbrellas just fine but nearly everything that could be said in favor of that film is done much better here. Repetitive?!? The repeated refrains and musical elements helps to cement the film as one piece, and lulls you into the rhythms of Demy's vision. Silly? How so? The film seems light but that's deceiving-- it takes a true master to make a film this complicated and intricate seem breezy. Too long? I wish it was twice as long.Michael wrote:All that brings me to question this: some of you find Young Girls to be superior to Umbrellas or even Demy's best film. I'm immeasurably perplexed by that. Please explain why.