AllMovie

In 1967, the phenomenally successful director of the films Lola and the groundbreaking musical Les Parapluies de Cherbourg, Jacques Demy, arrived in the little port town of Rochefort and, together with his art director, decorated the whole town in cheerful, almost surreal fashion for the filming of his next musical, Les Demoiselles de Rochefort. This enormously well-received film, packed with songs which became integral to French popular culture, put the little town of Rochefort "on the map." Twenty five years later, a lot of things have changed except for the fond memories of the people who worked on the film, and of the townspeople. In this celebratory documentary, Agnes Varda, the wife of Jacques Demy, brings some of the players and extras together back in Rochefort for some reminiscences. In keeping with the thoroughly romantic nature of the musical, she also tells the story of how Les Demoiselles de Rochefort's extras found romance and had their lives changed by participating in its making. The present-day story is highlighted by clips from the earlier film, and from a documentary of the period showing how it was made.