Peau d'Âne

Written and directed by Jacques Demy, the 1970 French fantasy musical Peau d'Âne adapts Charles Perrault's 17th-century fairy tale of the same name. When the queen dies suddenly, the king vows to marry only a woman as beautiful as she was, and the sole person who meets that condition is his own daughter. To block the marriage, the princess's godmother, a fairy, advises her to demand impossible wedding gifts. When the king manages to fulfill every request, the princess finally asks for the skin of his magical donkey, then flees the kingdom disguised beneath it, enduring hostility while guarding her secret. A chance encounter with the prince of a neighboring castle leads to confessed love, the revelation of her true identity, and the harmonious celebration of the young couple's wedding. Starring Catherine Deneuve, Jean Marais, Jacques Perrin and Delphine Seyrig, with music by Michel Legrand, the film brought a colorful 1960s pop aesthetic to French cinema. It became Demy's biggest box-office success in France and is regarded there as a cult classic, later restored in 2003 and 2014 under Agnès Varda's supervision.