Piel de asno

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!)

Talking flowers, red horses, bizarre musical numbers and a girl walking around in a donkey carcass, this is my kind of movie. The great prince may look more like a glam rocker than anything else, and the plot may not make a lick of sense, but it's still a pretty magical tale. Many of the scenes are rather surreal, and some scenes look like the entire crew just broke out of rehab, but if anything that just makes the movie more exciting. As for content, it's just weird. It's a classic love story, but it's told in such a peculiar way that for the most part I just stared blankly and pointed at the screen. Still, it's a very entertaining movie. Also comes with the most surprising helicopter appearance in movie history.

The fairy tale on which this colorful musical is based might not seem the most promising story for a light-hearted movie: as the story begins, a dying queen makes her husband promise that his next wife will be as beautiful as she, and his solution is to marry his own daughter. Fortunately, our heroine has a savvy confidante, the marcel-waved fairy godmother, whose worldly advice allows the girl to keep putting off the marriage. Finally, however, the princess has to flee her kingdom and, in a Cinderella twist, disguise herself as a lowly scullion. Fortunately, even covered in a donkey's skin, she manages to win the heart of a prince.

An enjoyably tongue-in-cheek combination of music, humor, and romance, this film features some of the most splendidly over-the-top costumes I've ever seen, and an adorable soft-focus, slow-motion duet between the two young lovers (with hilariously anachronistic lyrics). Actor Jean Marais, who distinguished himself in a very different fairy tale film --Cocteau's -La Belle et la Bete- --makes a distinguished if warped king, and Catherine Deneuve charms as she bakes a cake while singing the recipe--and daintily keeping her ruffled sleeves out of the batter. The fairy godmother is probably the most enjoyable character, a modish lady in high heels who has her own ideas about the king's proper romantic destiny. A plus for tourists is that much of the film takes place in actual French castles, including the one with the famous double-helix staircase.

Those who prefer a darker slant to fairy tales may enjoy reading Robin McKinley's novel -Deerskin-, based on the same story. But if -The Slipper and the Rose- is more your speed, or if you want something appropriate for all ages, track down -Donkey Skin-. Just be prepared if your daughter demands a dress the color of the moon next Halloween.

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.