~aventures du louchette flâneurse: 19ème~

December 4th, 2009

Perhaps you have seen Jacques Demy’s Peau d’âne (Donkeyskin), based on the (particularly) French fairytale about a widowed king (flamer Jean Marias, also of Beauty and the Beast and Orphée, in his last film role) who wants to marry his own daughter (Catherine Deneuve)?

Stalling in her reply, she demands more and more elaborate gifts: a dress the color of the sky, then of the moon, then as bright as the sun, and finally, the hide of his gold and jewel-pooping donkey. When he meets all her demands including the slaying of his beloved cash-cow pet, she flees, dressed in the donkey’s hide. After some humiliation and time spent as a scullion, she is discovered by a fey prince, and eventually all live happily ever after without having to marry their parents. Alors!

Today I came across a Peau d’âne costume in a shop window, of faux-fur and lined in red velvet. Also pictured is what I propose be worn beneath it. âne coquette!

My favorite scenes in the film are with the fairy godmother (marcel-waved Delphine Seyrig), especially those where she flies in reverse, skirts billowing, but backwards. Very low-tech, charming, very Cocteau. Here, almost at the end: