A tribute to legend of French cinema Jacques Demy
LIGHT rain falling on cobblestones in the port of Cherbourg as the woodwind and strings introduce the Windmills of Your Mind theme — Jacques Demy’s 1964 pop art musical comedy The Umbrellas of Cherbourg hits the ground running.
Within a minute, picture perfect 16-year-old Genevieve (Catherine Deneuve), and her handsome beau Guy (Nino Castelnuovo), are dusting off the parasols, embracing and making plans for their night on the town.
In no time at all, the 100% sung dialogue introduces the disapproving mother, the unexpected pregnancy and Guy’s induction into the French army. This is going to be about love’s battle with social conflicts; or is it?
We’re only given hints of the plot lines. Even the core Windmills theme by Demy’s lifelong musical collaborator, Michel Legrand, makes just a fleeting early appearance.
All the core elements of the film are unveiled tantalisingly in the opening sequences, with a clear promise of more.
It is perhaps, not too surprising then that an interview with Demy’s daughter, costume designer Rosalie Varda-Demy, gives plenty of meat in the prelude.
Special guest for the 25th Cork French Film Festival, from March 2 to 9, she has rich memories of her father.
“I worked with him [Jacques] on the 1980 TV movie La Naissance du Jour as a costume designer, and I really enjoyed the process of working with a family member,” recalls Rosalie. “He was somebody who was really delightful to work with.
“I have worked with other film directors, but that was a highlight for me. He gave people a lot of creative freedom. The set designer and the art director on that film were also wonderful to work with.”
This year’s Cork French Film Festival is built around a retrospective on the work of Jacques Demy, with eight feature films and four of his shorts. Also on offer is The World of Jacques Demy, a documentary by his wife Agnès Varda, Rosalie’s mother.
Rosalie will introduce three of Demy’s films — including Umbrellas of Cherbourg at the Gate Cinema on Sunday, March 2 — while several other films will be introduced by Julia Fabry of Ciné-Tamaris.com, the website devoted to the films of Demy and his wife Agnès Varda. Rosalie is the daughter of Agnès Varda and the actor-director Antoine Bourseiller. She was adopted by Jacques Demy when he and Agnès married.
“I am delighted to come back to Cork to discuss French cinema, especially to talk about the movies of Jacques Demy,” said Rosalie, costume designer on films such as The Beaches of Agnes, Godard’s Passion and Une Chambre en Ville.
“I came to Cork for the film festival a few years ago when my mother was an invited guest. Ireland has a great relationship with French cinema, and I think it has a special place for Irish people. It is also wonderful that the movies of Agnès and Jacques will now be shared by another generation.”
The central stars in Demy’s films include Yves Montand; Francoise Fabian; Jeanne Moreau; Mathilda May; Claude Mann; Jean Marais; Michel Piccoli; Danielle Darrieux; Marcello Mastraoianni; Anouk Aimée and Gene Kelly.
Spanning decades, Demy’s films offer an intriguing window on French society and culture, with each new film showing how his cinematic vision was evolving, reflecting the changing world around him.
“Agnes and Jacques spent two years in the States. When they came back, they were no longer the same people they were before they left, so that evolution can be seen in their films,” recalls Rosalie.
“An artistic person has a personal life and a creative life, but these two things are not separated in a black and white way. There is a global approach to producing cinema, but my parents’ approach is more personal.”
And this personal touch may explain why attendances at the Cork French Film Festival are consistently growing. People who are used to Hollywood’s formulaic movies are invariably moved by the human depth of film-makers like Jacques Demy.
Many of those who go to see The Umbrellas of Cherbourg on the festival’s opening night will be back in the Gate on Thursday for Demy’s 1967 sequel, The Young Girls of Rochefort. Their appetite will be whetted, hopefully having parked any resistance to subtitles and the all-singing dialogue.
It is hard to imagine Hollywood making a sequel to Evita, unless Madonna were to put up the money herself. And it would be hard to imagine Hollywood accepting a musical fantasy that denies a simple happy ending to the central lovebirds.
Which brings us neatly back to the beguiling, evasive tune and lyrics in Windmills of Your Mind. Jacques Demy is a particularly apt choice for a star turn, given the special focus on soundtracks at this year’s festival.
In this context, watch out also for a masterclass with composer Neil Brand, the live performance of a new film score by Irene Buckley and a showing of Electroma, the first feature film by art electronica duo, Daft Punk.
Of course, Windmills is best known in these parts as the hit song recorded in English by Dusty Springfield.
The song has no chorus, and its title only arrives in the final line. It concludes thus: “Like a circle in a spiral; Like a wheel within a wheel; Never ending or beginning; On an ever spinning reel; As the images unwind; Like the circles that you find; In the windmills of your mind.”
Like the movie it decorates, this lyric imposes no meaning, so it is left to the consumer to tie up any loose end — if they like that sort of thing. Very French. Leaving space for the viewer to form his/her own opinion — very European, very engaging. If you like that sort of thing.
“I have seen Umbrellas probably thirty times, and each time I always relate it to my own life at the time I’m watching it,” said Rosalie. “So it is different each time. You can also see the changes in fashions, and changes in the music.
“The instruments used in the films in the ’60s are different to the later films. And, of course, the film has a history that is related to my family’s personal history.
“Michel Legrand wrote most of the music in my father’s films. He was always looking for a good moment between music and films. It was a pleasure and a privilege to see two artists working so closely together.”
* Rosalie Varda-Demy will introduce ‘Umbrellas of Cherbourg’ at the Gate Cinema on Sunday, March 2, at 7pm.
She will also introduce ‘The World of Jacques Demy’, a film by Agnès Varda, on Monday, March 3, at 4.15pm, also at the Gate.
For her other appearances, see: www.corkfrenchfilmfestival.com
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