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Does anyone know what's up with Bay of Angels? If I'm not mistaken, the DVD is out of print and I'm desparate looking for it. Help?

It was one of the titles that went cheap when it went OOP, along the same time as the Wellspring Fassbinders. It was down to ~$6 then and now, I shudder to think how expensive eBay sellers are hawking it

Thanks domino. I must have missed it when it went cheap. Wanting to fill in my Demy collection with Angels. I can live without Angels as long as I have Lola.

Michael wrote:Thanks domino. I must have missed it when it went cheap. Wanting to fill in my Demy collection with Angels. I can live without Angels as long as I have Lola.

Which is also OOP, so it's a good thing you snatched it up!

Amazon and BN have Lola in stock right now so for those of you who are skeptical of Lola, don't be. As much as I love almost every Demy film, Lola is the only Demy film that lingers with me for years - beautiful delicate cinematography that burns my mind like a memory of love lost long ago.

Does anyone have an opinion of Varda's documentary The World of Jacques Demy?

Oh wow, it came back in print, it was definitely OOP last year! I agree that it's an amazing movie, probably my (close) second-favorite Demy behind Les Demoiselles de Rochefort

Michael wrote:Does anyone have an opinion of Varda's documentary The World of Jacques Demy?

It's been a few years, but I think it's a lovely film. It's best to see it alongside Varda's other Demy docs: Jacquot de Nantes and Les Demoiselles ont eu 25 ans. They're all lyrical meditations on Demy's work, but L'Univers is the most clearly nostalgic, in my opinion. It's lovely seeing everyone so long after the films came out, and it really seems like a gathering of friends after many years. I need to rewatch L'Univers before I say more and start sounding like an idiot (or even more like one, as the case may be).

Michael wrote:Amazon and BN have Lola in stock right now so for those of you who are skeptical of Lola, don't be. As much as I love almost every Demy film, Lola is the only Demy film that lingers with me for years - beautiful delicate cinematography that burns my mind like a memory of love lost long ago.

I think I prefer Angels to Lola, but I agree with Harvey Domino (hereafter HD) on which of Demy's is best.

davidhare wrote:Needless to say there has been no further word on Sony releasing the restored Model Shop.

Anyone?

A new print will be touring with a Demy retrospective this year... if a DVD comes it will come after that.

Or, add this to the list of HP titles.

I think I prefer Angels to Lola, but I agree with Harvey Domino (hereafter HD) on which of Demy's is best.

The Young Girls of Rochefort = Demy's best film!? Hmm, I'm going to have to revisit that film. Based on my memory of seeing it a few years ago, I felt it was too long (1/2 hour too long) and slow, dragged in various places of the film. The editing work could use some tightening up. In all, it was a very lovely film - guys with perky butts in white go go boots, girls with big hair, big hats. I remember loving Catharine Deneuve and her sister (can't remember her name) "Asian-shimming" in their "putain" red gowns toward the camera, the viewers - very gorgeous!

justeleblanc wrote:

davidhare wrote:Needless to say there has been no further word on Sony releasing the restored Model Shop.

A new print will be touring with a Demy retrospective this year... if a DVD comes it will come after that.

Sony has had a restored print for some time I think. I say this only because I just saw it, oh, this past Tuesday. The print is nice, the film, a drag.

"Model Shop" is more boring than batshit. Yeah, the print rocks. We need "Parking" or "Une chambre en ville".

Barmy wrote:"Model Shop" is more boring than batshit. Yeah, the print rocks. We need "Parking" or "Une chambre en ville".

Varda's relationship with Criterion may lead to some Demy....

Barmy wrote:"Model Shop" is more boring than batshit. Yeah, the print rocks. We need "Parking" or "Une chambre en ville".

Parking is more boring than batshit.

In Model Shop, Anouk is boring and sexless (as, for that matter, is Gary Lockwood). There is zero chemistry. It's also very awkward, in the way that American art films by European directors can be. The film is watchable only for its period charm and some ok outdoor cinematography.

Parking, on the other hand, is a stone classic.

davidhare wrote:I'm hoping you're all wrong about Model Shop - but I havent seen it in over 30 years. I certainly liked Gary Lockwood in it (hubba hubba) but Anouk is - as I recall - a total pain. It's a miracle he ever got such a sympathetic performance out of her in Lola. Cukor came to loathe her during the shoot of Justine. And it shows. "She just never even TRIED" he said.

Peau d'Ane is of some interest, if misguidedly whimsical. At least there's Delphine Seyrig playing a fairy (a real one.)

I had remembered what you'd written in the Model Shop DVD thread after I had seen the film and I was a little confused. Lockwood gives his best Bressonian performance, but in a context that doesn't call for it at all; in other words, it became abundantly clear why he was cast in 2001. Here he's just utterly vapid - no facial expressions, no intonation of voice, nothing. He's not only an unsympathetic character, but he's totally uninteresting. Attractive? Maybe. But man...(According to the hardly-reliable IMDB, Demy actually wanted to cast a young Harrison Ford in the lead role, but the studio balked - of course it didn't matter since the film was a flop anyway).

Anouk is great in Lola, but here she's just totally boring. Not only is there zero chemistry with Lockwood, but she delivers a flat out boring performance. Barmy is right, she also delivers about zero sex appeal.

The film itself suffers because of this. Still, its opening tracking shot is lovely, and it picks up briefly during the lovely driving scenes where Lockwood cruises around late 60s Los Angeles (which is why the film receives some prominent placement in Thom Anderson's great essay film Los Angeles Plays Itself) and during his first visit to the Model Shop of the title (if only for the idea of such a place actually existing).

Michael wrote:Based on my memory of seeing it a few years ago, I felt it was too long (1/2 hour too long) and slow, dragged in various places of the film. The editing work could use some tightening up. In all, it was a very lovely film - guys with perky butts in white go go boots, girls with big hair, big hats. I remember loving Catharine Deneuve and her sister (can't remember her name) "Asian-shimming" in their "putain" red gowns toward the camera, the viewers - very gorgeous!

You neglect to mention its best feature, Michel Legrand's songs.

I've uploaded som screenshots from Optimum's Peau d'âne (available in the Deneuve Collection) in the Screen Capture thread.
It is beautiful, anamorphic, but with burnt-in subs.

You neglect to mention its best feature, Michel Legrand's songs.

I'm embarrassed to say I can't single out any one of the songs. They escaped my mind but Deneuve and her "sister" remain since I saw it.

Michael wrote:

You neglect to mention its best feature, Michel Legrand's songs.

I'm embarrassed to say I can't single out any one of the songs.

Then go to amazon at once and buy the soundtrack CD. You not only get all the material from the movie, there's also a bonus disc that includes instrumental versions, one of which is an amazing rendition of "Chanson de Maxence" by Phil Woods.

Via_Chicago wrote:(According to the hardly-reliable IMDB, Demy actually wanted to cast a young Harrison Ford in the lead role, but the studio balked - of course it didn't matter since the film was a flop anyway).

This info is apparently correct, as it appears in Varda's L'Univers documentary as well, with Ford on hand to back it up.

Michael wrote:Does anyone know what's up with Bay of Angels? If I'm not mistaken, the DVD is out of print and I'm desparate loo
king for it. Help?

I bought "Bay of Angels" in December 2007 from playusa.com. I checked today and they still have it for sale.

Jack Phillips wrote:

Michael wrote:

You neglect to mention its best feature, Michel Legrand's songs.

I'm embarrassed to say I can't single out any one of the songs.

Then go to amazon at once and buy the soundtrack CD. You not only get all the material from the movie, there's also a bonus disc that includes instrumental versions, one of which is an amazing rendition of "Chanson de Maxence" by Phil Woods.

Also available is "The Cinema de Michel Legrand - Nouvelle Vague", which has tracks from "Lola" and "Bay of Angels". Also, a little off topic, the full theme and 12 variations he wrote for "Vivre sa Vie", of which Godard used only the first eight bars.

Just finished watching Demy's musicals - Umbrellas of Cherbourg and The Young Girls of Rochefort - back to back. I've always loved Cherbourg for not only its very beautiful lovers but for its sweet snowy melancholy and emotional complexity. It's tight and precise. While Young Girls is the opposite, it's silly, loose, rambling, repetitive. And way too long. I don't know why but I ached for Gene Kelly - Dorleac so embrassingly awkward dancing in his arms. That made me long for the luminosity of Astaire and Charisse.

All that brings me to question this: some of you find Young Girls to be superior to Umbrellas or even Demy's best film. I'm immeasurably perplexed by that. Please explain why.

Michael wrote:All that brings me to question this: some of you find Young Girls to be superior to Umbrellas or even Demy's best film. I'm immeasurably perplexed by that. Please explain why.

Because it's one of the most joyous, superbly realized crystallizations of everything that makes a musical great-- it is unquestionably Demy's best film, and one of the greatest musicals of all time. I like Umbrellas just fine but nearly everything that could be said in favor of that film is done much better here. Repetitive?!? The repeated refrains and musical elements helps to cement the film as one piece, and lulls you into the rhythms of Demy's vision. Silly? How so? The film seems light but that's deceiving-- it takes a true master to make a film this complicated and intricate seem breezy. Too long? I wish it was twice as long.