moonspinner55 Ridiculous, sub-Cocteau French fairy tale with songs has Catherine Deneuve playing a runaway princess. Her father, the widower King, has made a deathbed promise to the dying Queen that he will only remarry should he find a woman lovelier than she. After rejecting all the single ladies in the land, the only lass able to meet his demand for a beautiful wife is his own daughter (the King asks the local soothsayer, "Is this a sinful love?", to which the soothsayer says, "If I had a daughter, I'd marry her."). Director Jacques Demy, who also adapted the children's story by Charles Perrault, was possibly filled with whimsy (or perhaps was suffering from a bout with childlike prankishness). His work is heavy-handed with a tale already steeped in the grotesque. Delphine Seyrig as the Lilac Fairy gives her early scenes a bit of real color (as opposed to the artificial sparkle hanging over the rest of the film), but Deneuve is wasted. She's a beauty, but the movie is beastly. *1/2 from ****

lasttimeisaw I didn't conceive a high expectation towards this film, however it turned out to be really bad, maybe it a hint for me to eschew French films for a while? The fairytale of princess Donkey Skin, which I vaguely remember hearing before (of course during my childhood), but in the film, it boldly appropriated an incestuous background to back up the preposition of the flee of the princess under the disguise of the donkey skin, which one could only imagine French people was able to accomplish it. I don't mind the adaptation, but it failed to provide any potent vigor to the film, which is a major blunder. The latter part of the film is a well-worn Cinderella story while shoes are substituted by a more convenient item, a ring, and the process of all the maidens' trial of the ring is rather long and cumbrous, luckily the film only lasts 90 minutes, otherwise, I might not have the patience to finish it. (Nevertheless, the sudden landing of the helicopter in the end of the film is a definite an eye-opener, one could never underestimate the absurd imagination from French.)Let me think harder, at least the costumes and settings of the film are novel at that time, which sadly cannot save the film from a childish and reckless potboiler. My only consolation is that I could watch the marquee Catherine Deneuve in her most splendid time. Finally I have to mention its theme song (trust me, it's a musical film indeed), under an influence after whose multiple and redundant appearances, it has been ironed inside my brain deeply (l' amour, l'amour......); by comparison, I prefer the song by Delphine Seyrig (the fairy-godmother) in the film, who at least gave a more non-wooden and slightly comic performance.

Lee Eisenberg If ever you need any kind of indication that fairy tales were not always excessively cute stories to entertain children, look no further than Jacques Demy's movie version of Charles Perrault's "Peau d'ane" ("Donkey Skin" in English). I had heard some about the story but until now never known the specific plot. The events during the first part of the movie imply that it must have been harder to gross people out in the 17th century.But once Donkey Skin (Catherine Deneuve) flees, the film becomes almost a different movie. Aside from the fact that she now has to live among the peasants and do lowly work, her experiences with the prince (Jacques Perrin) take on a dimension of their own. The movie has a hippie-like quality, what with the colors and the fact that Donkey Skin and the prince set out to break the rules. And finally at the end, a deliberate anachronism; not only has the film had several contrasts between colors, there's a contrast between old and modern. This is truly a movie unlike any other.So while I do recommend the film, I should remind you that this is not really a movie for the little ones. Seriously, some of the stuff in the first part of the movie was the sort of stuff that one would expect in a Farrelly brothers movie. No matter; as a whole, the movie is one that you'll probably never forget. Also starring Jean Marais, Delphine Seyrig, Micheline Presle and Fernand Ledoux.PS: in a DVD featurette about the production, they note that Jim Morrison visited the set. Now there was something that Charles Perrault never could have predicted!

mooning_out_the_window This film is charming, the songs are adorable and catchy, even for those of us who are not perfect at french. The film is by Demy, one of the French New Wave film makers, who, as did the others, had his own distinct style. His joy at adding colour to his films is obvious in this film as it was in Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Each kingdom has its distinct colour, such as red, and as such all the horses, servants and outfits complement this. The colour and the music are not the only things this film has going for it. Another is that it is brilliantly acted bu Catherine Deneuve, who, though keeping the film light, absorbs you into her world. Though the film is suitable for children, the classic fairy tale story, there is an undercurrent and theme of incest between Deneuve's character and her father the King, whose wife on her death bed tells him to marry someone prettier than her. The Princess, the only one prettier, therefore becomes her father's choice of his next wife. It is a film that is first and foremost fun, and this can be seen no where more clearly than at the end when Deneuve's father and fairy godmother arrive. Very enjoyable!