Peau d'âne (1970)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Jacques Demy

Writers:

Jacques Demy (writer)
Charles Perrault (fairy tale)

Release Date:

20 December 1970 (France)

Genre:

Drama | Family | Fantasy | Musical | Romance

Plot:

A fairy godmother helps a princess disguise herself so she won't have to marry a man she doesn't love.

Plot Keywords:

King | Princess | Fairy Godmother | Prince | Donkey

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Catherine Deneuve	...	La princesse / 'Peau d'âne'
Jean Marais	...	Le premier roi (The King)
Jacques Perrin	...	Le prince charmant (The Prince)
Micheline Presle	...	La reine rouge, la seconde reine
Delphine Seyrig	...	La fée des lilas (The Fairy)
Fernand Ledoux	...	Le roi rouge, le seconde roi
Henri Crémieux	...	Le chef des médecins (The Doctor) (as Henri Cremieux)
Sacha Pitoëff	...	Le premier ministre (The Minister) (as Sacha Pitoeff)
Pierre Repp	...	Thibaud
Jean Servais	...	Le Récitant / Narrator (voice)
Georges Adet	...	Le savant
Annick Berger	...	Nicolette
Romain Bouteille	...	Le charlatan
Louise Chevalier	...	La vieille fermière
Sylvain Corthay	...	Godefroy

Also Known As:

Donkey Skin (USA)
Magic Donkey
Once Upon a Time (UK)

Runtime:

USA:90 min | Netherlands:100 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Stereo (restored version) | Mono (original version) | Dolby SR (restored version)

Certification:

Brazil:Livre | Singapore:PG | Netherlands:AL (re-release) (2008) | Australia:G | Finland:S | France:U | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

Château de Chambord, Chambord, Loir-et-Cher, France

Company:

Marianne Productions

Movie Connections:

Referenced in L'âge des possibles (1995)

French beauty at its best

Jacques Demy is a French maker who is famous for his musicals such as "les parapluies de Cherbourg" or "les demoiselles de Rochefort". For this movie, he chose to adapt a fairy tale written by Charles Perrault during the seventeenth century and he wisely chose. This movie is a real treat, an absolute enchantment and rare are the movies that succeed in recreating the wonderful atmosphere of fairy tales. Everything, here, reaches a level of perfection rarely reached: sceneries and costumes are marvellous, especially the rooms of the first castle that you see at the beginning of the movie. Moreover, a part of it was made at Chambord. Then, the music is really gorgeous and the songs ravishing. I also noticed that Demy introduced a contemporary humor which contains numerous anachronisms. For example, near the end of the film, Jean Marais appears in a helicopter! However, the story takes place in the seventeenth century. How strange it is... Don't forget, a performance of quality. Catherine Deneuve is an ideal and delicate princess but Jean Marais is probably the best actor in the movie. He's very convincing in his role of tormented and jaded king. Besides, it was his last role for the cinema. After that, he's given over to painting and sculpture. Even if certain special effects are a little kitsch, the movie is impregnated with a lot of poetry. So, at the end, a movie that seduces the eyesight and the hearing and this is one of Demy's masterpieces.