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Donkey Skin

Donkey Skin (1970)

December. 20,1970
|
7
| Fantasy Comedy Music Romance

A fairy godmother helps a princess disguise herself so she won't have to marry her father.

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Actuakers
1970/12/20

One of my all time favorites.

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Comwayon
1970/12/21

A Disappointing Continuation

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ThrillMessage
1970/12/22

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

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BelSports
1970/12/23

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

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Swift-12
1970/12/24

The heroine is a Princess whose widowed father (the Blue King) is forced to remarry and realizes no one but she can surpass the beauty of his beloved dead Queen. The girl is horrified by his proposal, but advised by her Fairy Godmother she concocts impossible conditions for the King to meet -- which incredibly he performs. The last sacrifice is to skin his prized donkey, which has yielded daily treasures of gems and gold in place of manure. Gradually she sympathizes with him and readies herself to the idea of matrimony, but the Fairy devises her escape and the Princess leaves incognito, wrapped in the filthy donkey skin. Hiding in a distant village in another realm, the regal girl is now treated as the lowliest servant. Enter the young Prince of the Red Kingdom as he passes through. He is feeling the melancholy of loneliness and ready for True Love which eludes him. He wanders through the wood and is led magically to the Princess and sees through her disguise. They do not actually meet, but the rest of the story involves the delicate steps towards restoring her to nobility, acceptability, and betrothal. It's a very charming musical fairy-tale, teeming with metaphors as children's stories often do. Jacques Demy was very influenced by and pays homage to Jean Cocteau, utilizing many of his simple camera techniques (elegant and mysterious if done artfully .. or if performed clumsily will look like hack work): slow-motion, reverse motion, on-set trickery (like actors dressed and built into the set as living magical statues). Like Cocteau's fantasies, Demy has achieved a poetic level here. His use of color is glorious -- the strong Blues that dominate *everything* in the Blue Kingdom (or the Red color scheme for the Red Kingdom) -- and the shift to All-White in the finale -- dresses that illuminate their own light or have moving clouds projected upon them -- the fairy god-mother whose dress changes color on a whim -- the great contrast of all-red horses and riders traveling through a vibrant green wood -- a hovel which magically flickers, dressed by dozens of strobe lights. And this is an excellent cast. The young Catherine Deneuve is of course perfect for a fairy-tale princess. Delphine Seyrig steals all her scenes as the Fairy Godmother. Jean Marais is a natural for the King (and as an old favorite of Cocteau's, adds another link to that fantastic universe). Jacques Perrin is an ideal Prince Charming. The music and songs by Michel Legrand is very good and has a bittersweet tinge to it. I love the musical sequence of the princess directing herself on how to bake a cake. Split in two she both reads the recipe (filthy and dressed in her loathsome donkey skin) and also performs the task (dressed beautifully with a crown). It theatrically represents how the Mind itself works, showing intention and will. There are other moments like this which SHOULD be iconic. Like the burial of the beloved queen who is placed in a large crystal sphere and left in an open field, presumably to never decay. Like the cranky old hag who expectorates live toads. Like the boat ride at the end of the couple's duet, drifting down a stream and fading away ephemerally.

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gavin6942
1970/12/25

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?

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Mankindfails
1970/12/26

I'm not from this generation so I was discovering Jean Marais movies. I didn't knew what this movie was about. I thought it was another swashbuckler movie.Having known what it was I would probably not have watched it out of prejudices specially against musical movies... It was like a good Disney classic with actors, this will also sound bad for lots of people I know. That's why I decided to write a review about it. To tell people that this movie isn't as bad as it may look like.Its not a dark movie for adults but its not aimed at children either which makes it very enjoyable even 44 years later for a young man like me who hates this type of movies.Also since its a fairy tale movie, the few parts where they sign not only don't look out of context but they even are a bit funny like in Disney movies.This movie is very well made specially for a movie from 1970. There isn't a lot of visual effects but the few they have are very good and simple.One issue is the theme being a bit too much about incest, it makes the whole thing a bit awkward but it doesn't ruin the movie.

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angelmpb
1970/12/27

I saw this movie for the first time in the movies when I was a little girl. I never forgot it, I never forgot the main song. For years I tried to find it in the video stores, I wish it was released in DVD. This is a cult-fantasy movie and deserves to be more available to the general public. Nowadays the "fantasy" movies have a lot of silliness and disgusting behavior due to lack of imagination of new filmmakers. Movies like Peau d'ane should not be forgotten and should be re-released so the new generation can learn to appreciate true art. Catherine Deneuve is in the top of her beauty in this movie, the clothes are wonderful, the music unforgettable.

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