Jacques Demy directs Catherine Deneuve, George Chakiris and Françoise Dorléac in this French musical about two sisters who plan to leave their hometown for Paris on the weekend a carnival arrives in town.

Obviously doesn’t have the bittersweet emotional heft of The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg but proves a lot more of a lark. The various men orbiting sisters Delphine and Solange are a bit meh… but then a dubbed yet glorious Gene Kelly turns up in an ice cream pink polo shirt and I was fully invested. The narrative carousel has the ideal partners occupy a small space (a town square) yet never spend any meaningful time together over the eventful weekend. This leaves plenty of room for primary coloured song and dance. It is a truly happy film… wistful, vibrant and with a serial killer subplot. Even the dialogue scenes are done in rhyming couplets. Cute and camp pleasures abound.

9

Perfect Double Bill: The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg (1964)

My wife and I do a podcast together called The Worst Movies We Own. It is available on Spotify or here https://letterboxd.com/bobbycarroll/list/the-worst-movies-we-own-podcast-ranking-and/