Even on paper this couldn't have seemed such a terrific idea.
Donkey Skin (1971)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:18
Fresh:16
Rotten:2
Average Rating:7.2/10
Runtime: 90 mins
Genre: Foreign Films
Synopsis: Jacques Demy takes his unique and musical vision to the world of fairy tales in this fantastical film. Based on a story by Charles Perrault, DONKEY SKIN takes place in an amorphous medieval kingdom... Jacques Demy takes his unique and musical vision to the world of fairy tales in this fantastical film. Based on a story by Charles Perrault, DONKEY SKIN takes place in an amorphous medieval kingdom of a king (Jean Marais), his queen, and their beautiful daughter, the princess (Catherine Deneuve). When the queen dies, the king takes an oath that he will only marry a woman more beautiful than she. Unable to find such a woman, the king settles upon the unlikely candidate of his daughter. In horror the princess flees, helped by her sassy fairy godmother (Delphine Seyrig). Mystical, surreal, and fantastical events as well as several musical numbers by Demy's longtime collaborator, Michel Legrand, lead the princess to flee the castle in the skin of her father's favorite donkey (it had bowel movements of jewels and gold). Her new existence as a filthy scullion named "Donkey Skin" is thankless and sad, and the princess longs for love. When a neighboring Prince comes to town a romance is born, and proceedings of epic fairy tale proportions lead the prince and the former princess "Donkey Skin" together, bringing this extravagantly filmed, whimsical and decorative tale full circle. [More]
Starring: Catherine Deneuve, Jean Marais, Jacques Perrin, Micheline Presle
Starring: Catherine Deneuve, Jean Marais, Jacques Perrin, Micheline Presle
Director: Jacques Demy
Director: Jacques Demy
Reviews for Donkey Skin
An odd but charming combination of a number of fairy tales, blended with anachronistically modern touches and mixed up with adult themes disguised in the form of mythic euphemisms.
Donkey Skin is told with the simplicity and beauty of a child's fairy tale, but with emotional undertones and a surrealistic style that adults are more likely to appreciate.
If you see just one film with a donkey that craps gold and jewels, see this one.
[B]ursts with wild colors, a simmering sexuality, and a Broadway-style score... this is a sumptuous experience, emotionally, visually, and aurally...
It's both innocent and bizarre, with a mischievous sense of fantasy marked by simple but striking cinematic magic.
Even if the restoration doesn't make Donkey Skin this New Wave icon's best effort, it's now that much more worthy of keeping company with The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and The Young Girls of Rochefort.
Demy loved romantic naïveté, but he loved the wreckage of human whim just as much, and for him this chestnut harbored both in its shell.
Demy creates a surreal dream world that is estranged from the reality of time or place.
It doesn't come off, despite a dazzling color design and imaginative sets, perhaps because Demy's extremely rarefied talent for fantasy needs to be anchored by a touch of the real.
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