Peau d'âne

To me, Donkey Skin (Peau d'Ane) is like Jean Cocteau reborn into the French New Wave(!). Gorgeous and stylized, it's a fairytale told with the cinematic magic we've come to expect from director Jacques Demy. This is a fairytale that adults will enjoy more than children, as it's full of dark humor. Ms. Deneuve is stunning as always, and the sassy fairy is also wonderful. Surreal and bizarre, Donkey Skin traps you into its world of bold colors, real-life french châteaux, living statues, and loads of fairy magic. But Demy doesn't seem content to let the viewer completely lose him/herself in the world he's created. The movie is full of self-references, something Demy had partly explored earlier with The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, but really let himself have fun with in Donkey Skin. For just when you come to believe the magic, Demy likes to remind you that this is just a movie. With only a smudge of dirt and an animal skin, the beautiful princess (Deneuve) is transformed on screen into the ugliest girl in the entire kingdom, so ugly that whenever she shares the screen with other characters, they all look on in horror. We still see a beautiful woman, under the dirt on her face and the donkey skin on her back, and we are reminded that this is only a movie-world. The helicopter is an amazing touch, and it made the movie for me. I won't say more, see it for yourself! (The reprint is currently making its rounds and is well worth it!)

A fairy godmother (Delphine Seyrig) helps a princess (Catherine Deneuve) disguise herself so she will not have to marry a man (Jean Marais) she does not love.

Jacques Demy loved fairy tales since childhood, and they remained a strong presence in his life. He attempted to make a Sleeping Beauty film in the 1950s, and ended up putting fairy tale references in both "Lola" (1961) and "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" (1964). With "Donkey Skin", he finally succeeded, and made what could be his greatest film.

He also cast Catherine Deneuve, possibly Europe's greatest actress, and his constant muse. Rounding out the talent was Italian costume designer Gitt Magrini, who is apparently not a well-known figure, but based solely on this film ought to be.

Numerous elements in the film refer to Jean Cocteau's 1946 fairy tale film "Beauty and the Beast": the casting of Jean Marais (who had been Cocteau's beast), the use of live actors to portray human statues in the castles, and the use of simple special effects such as slow motion and reverse motion.

There is also the influence of Walt Disney. Demy himself noted in 1971, "When I wrote the scene where we see Donkey Skin kneading the dough and singing the song of the love cake, I saw Snow White, assisted by birds, preparing a pie." What are we to make of the incest theme? Interestingly, the whole concept seems to be ignored, with the idea of father-daughter love being wrong only on practical, never moral, grounds. What is the film trying to say? Demy returned to this theme in "Three Seats for the 26th" (1988), although in a very different context.

There is also the unusual blend of fairy tale and modernity, both in the "poetry of the future" and a later reveal concerning transportation. Again, how are we to interpret this? Is it all a dream, a fantasy world outside of time itself?

Weird, yes and off-putting to some, but this is a classic French "conte de fée" (fairy tale) by Charles Perrault.

This man was also responsible for Little Red Riding Hood, Puss in Boots, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella.

The stories in Mother Goose also stemmed from his work.

If you think about it, many of these stories contain weird or gruesome elements but are now all considered classics which we read to our children, albeit in somewhat doctored form.

So, weird to Americans, but normal to the French.

One cannot deny that the picture is beautifully filmed, and that the color is truly outstanding.

We should note that Jacques Demy also directed the Umbrellas of Cherbourg and the Young Girls of Rochefort. There is a great similarity in attitude and art if one compares these three films of his.

I first watched this movie at 14 and I had forgotten most of it when I got hold of the DVD. From the start I could tell that the movie had an unusual angle, and that is was deconstructing the traditional fairy tale - but it went far beyond that and one of its qualities is that it never takes itself seriously. Deneuve is as stunning as ever; Perrin, Marais and especially Seyrig are most effective in supporting roles; the music is really gentle but highly effective; and the direction inspired. I think it is a film with far more to teach than critics would believe or allow. I am glad I found this film and saw it again. As for my kids, they felt it was far more advanced than anything kids see these days.

Jacques Demy is a French maker who is famous for his musicals such as "les parapluies de Cherbourg" or "les demoiselles de Rochefort". For this movie, he chose to adapt a fairy tale written by Charles Perrault during the seventeenth century and he wisely chose. This movie is a real treat, an absolute enchantment and rare are the movies that succeed in recreating the wonderful atmosphere of fairy tales. Everything, here, reaches a level of perfection rarely reached: sceneries and costumes are marvellous, especially the rooms of the first castle that you see at the beginning of the movie. Moreover, a part of it was made at Chambord. Then, the music is really gorgeous and the songs ravishing. I also noticed that Demy introduced a contemporary humor which contains numerous anachronisms. For example, near the end of the film, Jean Marais appears in a helicopter! However, the story takes place in the seventeenth century. How strange it is... Don't forget, a performance of quality. Catherine Deneuve is an ideal and delicate princess but Jean Marais is probably the best actor in the movie. He's very convincing in his role of tormented and jaded king. Besides, it was his last role for the cinema. After that, he's given over to painting and sculpture. Even if certain special effects are a little kitsch, the movie is impregnated with a lot of poetry. So, at the end, a movie that seduces the eyesight and the hearing and this is one of Demy's masterpieces.