The Young Girls Turn 25

A documentary about Varda returning to the town where her film was made. Twenty-five years earlier a musical had been shot in Rochefort. The town square was repainted, hundreds of people worked as extras, and the film became one of the best-known musicals in French cinema. Varda goes back. The square is the same but the people have changed. Those who were children then are middle-aged now and most remember the shoot. The film runs three things at once: footage from the old film, the celebration in the town today, and the director's own memories. Varda also speaks about the film's director Jacques Demy, her husband; he was no longer alive at the time. Catherine Deneuve takes part in the celebration and the composer Michel Legrand appears as well. The narrative does not surrender to nostalgia. Varda asks how the town changed, where people placed that film in their lives, and what mark cinema leaves somewhere. It is short, around sixty minutes. A warm production for anyone who likes documentary and film history. For someone thinking of watching it on its own, it requires knowing The Young Girls of Rochefort.