SCAD Fash x Villa Albertine screening: The Umbrellas of Cherbourg & The Young Girls of Rochefort

Deneuve was launched to stardom by this dazzling directorial feat from Demy, in which she plays an umbrella-shop owner’s delicate daughter who falls for a handsome garage mechanic played by Nino Castelnuovo. When he is shipped off to fight in Algeria, the two lovers must grow up quickly. Exquisitely designed in a kaleidoscope of colors and told entirely through the lilting songs of the great composer Michel Legrand, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is one of the most revered and unorthodox screen musicals of all time

Charting missed connections and second chances, Demy’s vibrant musical delivers an effervescent confection of charm and charisma. Twins Delphine and Solange, a dance instructor and a music teacher (played by real-life sisters Deneuve and Dorléac), long for big-city life. When a fair comes through their quiet port town, the event presents the possibility of escape. With its jazzy Michel Legrand score, pastel paradise of costumes, and divine supporting cast (George Chakiris, Grover Dale, Danielle Darrieux, Michel Piccoli, and Gene Kelly), The Young Girls of Rochefort is a tribute to Hollywood optimism from 1960s French cinema’s preeminent dreamer.