Overrated

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

This musical version of Donkey Skin (1970) is a New Wave homage to Jean Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast (1948), yet it feels distinct from its predecessor in many ways. For one thing, it's much more light in tone, less austere and pensive. The musical numbers are catchy and romantic, unlike the operatic score for BatB. The pastel, Disney-like color palette is far off from Cocteau's elegant black-and-white world. The surreal touches come from the anachronisms of the fairy godmother, from her 1930s style get-up to her arrival in a helicopter near the end of the movie.Yet like the Cocteau film, Donkey Skin explores the world of the subconscious, specifically the Electra Complex. This is an element unique to Demy's film, since in the original tale, the princess is horrified by her father's marriage proposal. Here, Catherine Devenue's heroine shows a repressed desire for her father, played with great passion by Jean Marais (in a grand costume similar to his Beast in Cocteau's BatB). Her fairy godmother advises her against the incestuous union, but only because she wants the king for herself. When the princess learns of the godmother's marriage to her father at the end, she is noticeably disappointed and we get the feeling her marriage to prince charming might not be satisfactory.Donkey Skin is no masterpiece, but it is a fascinating piece of fairy tale cinema nevertheless and one of the most fun films you'll come across in the French New Wave, its melancholy undercurrent aside.

despite the large slices of kitsch, despite the not inspired moments and the mark of period spirit, it is a lovely film. a fairy tale in charming clothes, a beautiful demonstration of imagination, a lovely use of fantastic and good cast. it is far to be perfect but its sins seems be so adorable than nothing is real wrong. a movie like a spring wind, not serious but poetic, with Catherine Deneveuve not in her best role but doing enough for create a funny one, with Jean Marais in convincing king looking his perfect wife - the cat-throne is the inspired detail -,with musical moments who are not the best but represents not bad humor examples. message from a lost world, its sensitivity is far to be lost.

This is the fantasy movie, full of grace, the most beautiful photography. Catherine Deneuve looks exactly how should a beautiful princess look in a fairy tale. It is amazing to see Jacques Perrin of Cinema Paradiso so young as Le Prince Charmant. Jacques Legrand's music is always so involving and bewitching. All the theatrical movements, interpretations and surreal are so adjustable to Jacques Demy's intention of bringing the dreams, the fantastic, the fantasy to the screen. The nasty and sick thought of a father longing to marry his daughter turns into a part of the fantastic, kind of funny and impossible idea of the tale. I was watching the movie for the hundredth time. By my side there was a very little girl about 3 yo. The King was burying his wife, The Queen, and told to the Princess he would never look to her again. The girl asked her father to translate to her what The King had said and the man stammered and said: "Your mother died."

This film is charming, the songs are adorable and catchy, even for those of us who are not perfect at french. The film is by Demy, one of the French New Wave film makers, who, as did the others, had his own distinct style. His joy at adding colour to his films is obvious in this film as it was in Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Each kingdom has its distinct colour, such as red, and as such all the horses, servants and outfits complement this. The colour and the music are not the only things this film has going for it. Another is that it is brilliantly acted bu Catherine Deneuve, who, though keeping the film light, absorbs you into her world. Though the film is suitable for children, the classic fairy tale story, there is an undercurrent and theme of incest between Deneuve's character and her father the King, whose wife on her death bed tells him to marry someone prettier than her. The Princess, the only one prettier, therefore becomes her father's choice of his next wife. It is a film that is first and foremost fun, and this can be seen no where more clearly than at the end when Deneuve's father and fairy godmother arrive. Very enjoyable!