# The Young Girls of Rochefort
**The Young Girls of Rochefort** (French: *Les Demoiselles de Rochefort*) is a 1967 French musical film written and directed by [Jacques Demy](https://www.edgepedia.org/jacques-demy), with music by [Michel Legrand](https://www.edgepedia.org/michel-legrand), about twin sisters who teach dance and music in the port town of Rochefort and each search for love during a weekend fair. It was Demy's follow-up to *The Umbrellas of Cherbourg* (1964) and is a [Technicolor](https://www.edgepedia.org/technicolor) homage to the classic Hollywood musical.[1](https://www.cnc.fr/professionnels/visas-et-classification?visa=31865) • [2](https://www.criterion.com/films/28615-the-young-girls-of-rochefort)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and writer | Jacques Demy (1931–1990), who wrote the scenario, dialogue, and lyrics for all the songs[3](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/48037.html) |
| Music | Michel Legrand (1932–2019), who composed and conducted the score[3](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/48037.html) |
| Filming | 31 May to 27 August 1966, on location in Rochefort, Charente-Maritime[4](https://www.ville-rochefort.fr/node/35513/latest) |
| French release | Visa dated 3 March 1967; theatrical release 8 March 1967; official duration 128 minutes[1](https://www.cnc.fr/professionnels/visas-et-classification?visa=31865) |
| Principal cast | Catherine Deneuve (Delphine), Françoise Dorléac (Solange), Danielle Darrieux (Yvonne), Jacques Perrin (Maxence), Gene Kelly (Andy Miller), Michel Piccoli (Simon Dame), George Chakiris (Etienne)[3](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/48037.html) |
| Production companies | Parc Film and Madeleine Films (Paris); producers Mag Bodard and Gilbert de Goldschmidt[3](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/48037.html) • [4](https://www.ville-rochefort.fr/node/35513/latest) |
| Recognition | Academy Award nomination for Best Music, Score of a Musical Picture (1969)[5](https://europeanscreen.com/titles/the-young-girls-of-rochefort/) |
## Spoilers
### Story and style
Delphine and Solange Garnier are 25-year-old twins: Delphine, the blonde, gives dance lessons, and Solange, the redhead, teaches music.[8](https://www.justwatch.com/fr/film/the-young-girls-of-rochefort) Both dream of love and of leaving their quiet seaside town. When a fair brings sailors, painters, musicians, and carnival workers to Rochefort, a web of near-misses keeps the right people tantalizingly close without their realizing it.[9](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-young-girls-of-rochefort) Their mother, Yvonne, runs a café; the twins are hired as carnival singers, Solange falls for an American musician, and Delphine leaves her boyfriend to search the town for her ideal man.[10](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_young_girls_of_rochefort)
Demy described the film's purpose in musical terms: "The plot and the storyline matter less to me than the feelings I wanted to express through the songs, the dialogue, the dance. I wanted to make a film that gives a feeling of freedom. A film about joy that sends you out of the theater with a confidence in life that gives you the strength to move mountains."[6](https://www.premiersplans.org/fr/film/les-demoiselles-de-rochefort) Critics have noted that beneath the bright surface runs a somber undercurrent of missed connections that lingers even when love triumphs.[10](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_young_girls_of_rochefort)
The film follows the conventions of the Hollywood musical closely: alternating spoken and sung or danced sequences, opening and closing with a medley, lip-syncing, and flamboyant color as a mode of expression. The number *Chanson d'un jour d'été* pays direct homage to [George Cukor](https://www.edgepedia.org/george-cukor)'s *Gentlemen Prefer Blondes* (1953) through the sisters' choreography, the contrast of their hair color, and their red sequined dresses; Maen's choreography recalls [Jerome Robbins](https://www.edgepedia.org/jerome-robbins)'s work on *West Side Story*, and the casting of [George Chakiris](https://www.edgepedia.org/george-chakiris), Bernardo in that film, reinforces the reference.[11](https://artsandculture.google.com/story/the-young-girls-of-rochefort-by-jacques-demy-cahiers-du-cinema/tgWBw7roL2paAw?hl=en)
## Production and creative team
Demy and Legrand first met during the shooting of *Lola* (1961), one of the early films of the [French New Wave](https://www.edgepedia.org/french-new-wave). Their collaboration produced the sung-through *The Umbrellas of Cherbourg*, which won the [Palme d'Or](https://www.edgepedia.org/palme-dor) at Cannes, and then *Les Demoiselles de Rochefort*, which Demy conceived as a classical French musical giving a large place to dance and ballets.[6](https://www.premiersplans.org/fr/film/les-demoiselles-de-rochefort) Demy worked for two years on the film's musical construction with Legrand, taking joy as the guiding thread.[7](https://www.ville-rochefort.fr/60-ans-du-tournage-les-demoiselles-de-rochefort)
The technical crew included Ghislain Cloquet as cinematographer, Bernard Evein as production designer, Jacqueline Moreau as costume designer, and [Jean Hamon](https://www.edgepedia.org/jean-hamon) as editor; Norman Maen choreographed five ballets for the film.[3](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/48037.html) • [4](https://www.ville-rochefort.fr/node/35513/latest) Demy cast [Catherine Deneuve](https://www.edgepedia.org/catherine-deneuve) as Delphine alongside her real-life sister [Françoise Dorléac](https://www.edgepedia.org/francoise-dorleac) (1942–1967) as Solange, and surrounded them with Gene Kelly (1912–1996), Danielle Darrieux (1917–2017), an actress for whom Demy felt deep admiration, Michel Piccoli (1925–2020), Jacques Perrin (1941–2022), George Chakiris, and Grover Dale.[7](https://www.ville-rochefort.fr/60-ans-du-tournage-les-demoiselles-de-rochefort)
## Music
Legrand's score mixes jazz, swing, and the American musical idiom; the hybridization of operetta, jazz, and the Hollywood musical has been described as helping define a distinctive French film-musical language.[12](https://publications-prairial.fr/emergences/index.php?id=532) The jazz, imbued with pop and samba, has been called a role apart in the history of cinema, and the songs are set to lyrics in alexandrines written by Demy.[13](https://www.francetvpro.fr/contenu-de-presse/27214) The score earned the film its Academy Award nomination for Best Music, Score of a Musical Picture.[5](https://europeanscreen.com/titles/the-young-girls-of-rochefort/)
## Filming in Rochefort
Demy chose Rochefort for its particular architecture, scouting the town accompanied by [Agnès Varda](https://www.edgepedia.org/agnes-varda) and Bernard Evein.[4](https://www.ville-rochefort.fr/node/35513/latest) • [7](https://www.ville-rochefort.fr/60-ans-du-tournage-les-demoiselles-de-rochefort) Filming ran from 31 May to 27 August 1966, and the town's residents took part as extras, skipping school or work to appear in the [CinemaScope](https://www.edgepedia.org/cinemascope) production.[4](https://www.ville-rochefort.fr/node/35513/latest) Among the locations, a music shop was built into a corner of the Bourse du commerce at the angle of the rue de l'Arsenal and the rue Jean Jaurès, where a scene was shot on the first day of summer.[14](https://www.rochefort-ocean.com/organiser/balades-randos/tous-les-itineraires-a-pied-et-a-velo/les-demoiselles-de-rochefort-lieux-de-tournage-326613) The town has kept the film in its public memory: the municipal archives hold photographs, posters, magazines, records, and correspondence related to the shoot, and the city marked the 60th anniversary of the filming in 2026.[15](https://www.ville-rochefort.fr/sites/default/files/Mediatheque/Services/Culture/service%20patrimoine/FOCUS%20demoiselles%202026.pdf?time=1769665017) • [7](https://www.ville-rochefort.fr/60-ans-du-tournage-les-demoiselles-de-rochefort)
## Reception and legacy
The film was released in France on 8 March 1967 under its original title; its American title is *The Young Girls of Rochefort*.[1](https://www.cnc.fr/professionnels/visas-et-classification?visa=31865) • [14](https://www.rochefort-ocean.com/organiser/balades-randos/tous-les-itineraires-a-pied-et-a-velo/les-demoiselles-de-rochefort-lieux-de-tournage-326613) Françoise Dorléac died in a car accident shortly after its release, giving the sisters' performances a retrospective poignancy.[5](https://europeanscreen.com/titles/the-young-girls-of-rochefort/) On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 98% Tomatometer rating from 45 reviews, with a critics' consensus that it "pays colorful homage to classic Hollywood musicals while earning its own emotionally affecting place of honor in the genre."[10](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_young_girls_of_rochefort)
**Later tributes.** Agnès Varda, Demy's widow, honored him with the 1993 documentary *The Young Girls Turn 25*, made around the 25th anniversary of the shoot, and included it among the supplements of the Criterion Collection edition.[2](https://www.criterion.com/films/28615-the-young-girls-of-rochefort) The film's influence reaches later Hollywood: [Damien Chazelle](https://www.edgepedia.org/damien-chazelle)'s *La La Land* openly draws on it.[5](https://europeanscreen.com/titles/the-young-girls-of-rochefort/) A 2K digital restoration with a 5.1 surround soundtrack was issued by the Criterion Collection (Spine #717).[2](https://www.criterion.com/films/28615-the-young-girls-of-rochefort) Demy set both *The Umbrellas of Cherbourg* and *Les Demoiselles de Rochefort* in ports, a setting the film historian Matthieu Orléan, curator of the 2013 Cinémathèque française exhibition "Le Monde enchanté de Jacques Demy," connects to the director's lifelong attachment to his native Nantes as a place of departure and adventure.[16](https://www.lemonde.fr/m-perso/article/2025/01/19/vous-aimez-jacques-demy-vous-aimerez-nantes_6504827_4497916.html)
## References
1. [LES DEMOISELLES DE ROCHEFORT, fiche œuvre, CNC (visa 31865)](https://www.cnc.fr/professionnels/visas-et-classification?visa=31865)
2. [The Young Girls of Rochefort, The Criterion Collection](https://www.criterion.com/films/28615-the-young-girls-of-rochefort)
3. [Les Demoiselles de Rochefort (Jacques Demy, 1966), La Cinémathèque française](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/48037.html)
4. [Les Demoiselles de Rochefort, Ville de Rochefort](https://www.ville-rochefort.fr/node/35513/latest)
5. [The Young Girls of Rochefort, European Screen](https://europeanscreen.com/titles/the-young-girls-of-rochefort/)
6. [Les Demoiselles de Rochefort, Festival Premiers Plans d'Angers](https://www.premiersplans.org/fr/film/les-demoiselles-de-rochefort)
7. [60 ans du tournage "Les Demoiselles de Rochefort", Ville de Rochefort](https://www.ville-rochefort.fr/60-ans-du-tournage-les-demoiselles-de-rochefort)
8. [Les Demoiselles de Rochefort en streaming, JustWatch France](https://www.justwatch.com/fr/film/the-young-girls-of-rochefort)
9. [The Young Girls of Rochefort streaming, JustWatch US](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-young-girls-of-rochefort)
10. [The Young Girls of Rochefort, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_young_girls_of_rochefort)
11. [The Young Girls of Rochefort by Jacques Demy, Cahiers du cinéma / Google Arts & Culture](https://artsandculture.google.com/story/the-young-girls-of-rochefort-by-jacques-demy-cahiers-du-cinema/tgWBw7roL2paAw?hl=en)
12. [Unité musico-dramaturgique et développement thématique dans le cinéma de Jacques Demy et Michel Legrand, Émergences](https://publications-prairial.fr/emergences/index.php?id=532)
13. [Les Demoiselles de Rochefort, FranceTvPro](https://www.francetvpro.fr/contenu-de-presse/27214)
14. [Les Demoiselles de Rochefort : lieux de tournage, Office de Tourisme de Rochefort Océan](https://www.rochefort-ocean.com/organiser/balades-randos/tous-les-itineraires-a-pied-et-a-velo/les-demoiselles-de-rochefort-lieux-de-tournage-326613)
15. [En suivant le fil de l'histoire, Ville de Rochefort (PDF)](https://www.ville-rochefort.fr/sites/default/files/Mediatheque/Services/Culture/service%20patrimoine/FOCUS%20demoiselles%202026.pdf?time=1769665017)
16. [Vous aimez Jacques Demy, vous aimerez Nantes, Le Monde](https://www.lemonde.fr/m-perso/article/2025/01/19/vous-aimez-jacques-demy-vous-aimerez-nantes_6504827_4497916.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Musical and music films (individual works) › Musical films of the 1930s to 1960s*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license