DONKEY SKIN
Feature-film directed by Jacques Demy from Perrault's tale
Identification sheet:
1970, France
Running time: 89 minutes
Direction: Jacques Demy
Production : Mag Bodard
Sound Track: Michel Legrand
Main characters:
Catherine Deneuve is Donkey Skin, and around her we find a wide set of French actors coming from different disciplines.
Charming Pinces is played by Jacques Perrin, the king by Jean Marais, Fairy by Delphine Seyrig. In a secondary role we find Fernand Ledoux and Pierre Repp.
Accuracy and anachronism:
Perrault's tale is kept in many aspects, like the incestuous desire of the father, the test of three clothes, the donkey skin, her runing away, her living in a farm, the Prince's discovery and many other basic plot chapters. Jacques Demy adds Michel Legrand's songs and some welcomed anachronisms like the helicopter. Perrault has been always said to sweeten the tales, in which violent or sexual scenes are omitted. Donkey Skin is an oriental tale known in France from 1547. Here Demy keeps accurate to Perrault's version and the tale, which is based on an incestuous relationship, forgets all about it and deals with the topic in a trivial way.