Synopsis
Donkey Skin (Peau d'âne, 1970) is Jacques Demy's musical fairy tale, and you can watch it online on iFILM. A widowed king vows to remarry only a woman more beautiful than his late queen, and his choice falls on his own daughter.
Horrified, the princess (Catherine Deneuve) runs to her fairy godmother (Delphine Seyrig) for help. To wreck the monstrous wedding, she demands the impossible from her father: gowns the colour of weather, of the moon, of the sun, and then the hide of the donkey that fills the treasury with gold. When the king hands even that over, she hides beneath the filthy skin and takes scullery work in a faraway land, where a prince (Jacques Perrin) catches sight of her. Jean Marais plays the father, a nod to his roles for Cocteau.
Working from a Charles Perrault tale, Demy turned an uncomfortable premise into a tongue-in-cheek feast for the eyes. Blue horses, singing roses, a Michel Legrand score, and costumes drowned in glitter. Children adore it and cinephiles study it. Stream Donkey Skin (1970) online on iFILM.
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