Les Demoiselles de Rochefort & Wicked

With its sung dialogue, spontaneous and charming dance numbers and candy-colored palette, "Les Demoiselles de Rochefort" ("The Young Girls of Rochefort") bears a strong resemblance to "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" - no coincidence, since director Jacques Demy followed up Umbrellas with Demoiselles. This one is lighter in tone and lower in stakes, with overlapping love stories and a child sans père traveling carnies with tons of charm and sisters played by Catherine Deneuve and her real-life sister. No one else made movies quite like this. I have an affection for Jacques Demy not only because his movies are beautiful and fun to watch, but also because he had the respect and adoration of Agnès Varda, one of my all-time favorites. (Dyk that's Varda and Demy's kid playing the child on Umbrellas of Cherbourg?) 

It's funny because I finally watched "Wicked" last night so I'm having a little musical moment. I enjoyed Wicked more than I thought I would, which is dumb, like have I met myself? I love ridiculous musicals like that in a kind of ironic way (the "Cats" movie? "The Greatest Showman," bring them on). "Wicked" had some nice moments but I also had a feeling like I was watching a really high-budget, high-quality "Descendants" or "Zombies vs Cheerleaders" or some other silly Disney Channel original. I will say the sets and costumes were truly great and well thought out. I got bored when it veered hard into CGI because like I have had enough Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings dramatic landscapes to last a lifetime. It was better when it felt strange but real (there's a crazy scene in a library that was so fun to watch). I read the book probably 20 years ago, before it was even a musical, and I like the story. Cynthia Erivo was good and Ariana Grande reminded me perturbingly of people I know in real life (so, also good job). 

All that said, it's incredible how drastically different these two musicals are. Les Demoiselles is about people who feel real and relatable, and they are dancing and singing in streets of a real, modern city. I'd argue that is more whimsical, charming and imaginative than a bajillion-dollar set + CGI set in a fantasy world. Unreality has its place and metaphor can be powerful. But it's truly joyful to see people in pastels leaping in back alleys of streets you could probably still find on Google maps.