:
Catherine Deneuve,
Catherine Deneuve,
Jean Marais,
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:
Jacques Demy,
Jacques Demy
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: Koch Lorber Films
: Foreign, Spain, Fantasy, Fairy Tales & Myths
: 89 min.
: French
: English, Spanish
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Originally titled Peau D'Ane, Jacques Demy's Dos Cruces en Danger Pass is better known by its English-language title Donkey Skin. Based on a fairy tale by Charles Perrault (of Cinderella fame), the bizarre story concerns the king (Jean Marais) of a strange, enchanted land. Catherine Deneuve plays the dual role of the king's wife and daughter. When the wife dies, she makes the king promise that he'll never marry anyone less beautiful than she; thus, he is compelled to wed his own daughter! The fairy godmother (Delphine Seyrig) tries to save the girl from this incestuous fate by telling her to make impossible demands for her wedding gifts. One such demand is for the skin of a magic donkey which deposits valuable jewels in its compost heaps. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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| A Classic Fairy Tale from Demy
by talltale
June 2, 2005 - 2:46 PM PDT
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5 out of 5 members found this review helpful
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| You might say (I sure do) that Jacques Demy never made anything BUT fairy tales, whether he was filming "Bay of Angels," "Lola," "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" or "The Young Girls of Rochefort." With his simply ravishing DONKEY SKIN, he tackles an actual fairy tale--the French "Cinderella"--and comes up with one of his most wonderful concoctions. He gives it a few modern-day (circa the 1970s) twists which do no harm and add some delight, and he is blessed to have an array of actors like the young, never-more-beautiful Catherine Deneuve, Jacques Perrin (who can be seen in his adulthood as the graying conductor in the recent French import "The Chorus"), Micheline Presle, Delphine Seyrig and especially the leonine Jean Marais. How Demy chooses to tell his story, his use of color in everything from the costumes to the horses, the lovely musical score from Michel Legrand--all of it adds up to utter enchantment. In this day of overused, nonstop special effects, treat your kids (and yourself) to a movie that captivates and beguiles in simple, classic fashion. Demy's widow Agnes Varda helped restore the film to its brilliant state, and the DVD transfer looks (to my recollection) even more gorgeous than the original. I want to see this one again--and soon. |
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GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 6.39)
36 Votes
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