The Essential Jacques Demy [Criterion Collection] [13 Discs] [Blu-ray/DVD]

French director Jacques Demy didn't just make movies-he created an entire cinematic world. Demy launched his glorious feature filmmaking career in the sixties, a decade of astonishing invention in his national cinema. He stood out from the crowd of his fellow New Wavers, however, by filtering his self-conscious formalism through deeply emotional storytelling. Fate and coincidence, doomed love, and storybook romance surface throughout his films, many of which are further united by the intersecting lives of characters who either appear or are referenced across titles. Demy's films-which range from musical to melodrama to fantasia-are triumphs of visual and sound design, camera work, and music, and they are galvanized by the great stars of French cinema at their centers, including Anouk Aimee, Catherine Deneuve, and Jeanne Moreau. The works collected here, made from the sixties to the eighties, touch the heart and mind in equal measure. Includes LOLA, BAY OF ANGELS, THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG, THE YOUNG GIRLS OF ROCHEFORT, DONKEY SKIN and UNE CHAMBRE EN VILLE.

This release from Criterion brings together a half-dozen films directed by Jacques Demy. Included is Bay of Angels, Umbrellas of Cherbourg, The Young Girls of Rochefort, Donkey Skin, and Une Chambre En Ville.