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In Jacques Demy’s The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967), the plot is set in motion by a series of converging events over a single weekend in the seaside town of Rochefort. The story is driven by the theme of "chance encounters" and the arrival of new opportunities that challenge the status quo for the main characters.
The specific actions that start the plot in motion include:
The film opens on a Friday morning with a caravan of colorful trucks and performers arriving in Rochefort via a massive transporter bridge. This traveling fair, led by Étienne (George Chakiris) and Bill (Grover Dale), serves as the primary engine for the plot. Their arrival introduces a sense of excitement and a literal "deadline"—the fair only lasts for the weekend—which forces the other characters to make life-changing decisions quickly.
Immediately following the opening, we meet the twin sisters Delphine (Catherine Deneuve) and Solange (Françoise Dorléac). Through their introductory song, "Chanson des Jumelles," they establish their motivation: they are tired of their provincial lives and intend to move to Paris to find "ideal love" and professional success (Delphine as a dancer and Solange as a composer). This pre-existing desire is the internal motor of the film; the arrival of the fair simply provides the external opportunity.
A key inciting incident occurs when Delphine visits her boyfriend, Guillaume, an arrogant gallery owner. After she breaks up with him, she discovers a portrait in his gallery that looks exactly like her. The painting was created by Maxence (Jacques Perrin), a sailor and artist stationed in town who is searching for his "ideal woman." This discovery sets Delphine on a quest to find the artist, while Maxence is simultaneously looking for her, unaware she is just around the corner.
Solange’s plot is set in motion by her professional ambition. She visits Simon Dame, a local music shop owner, to ask for an introduction to his famous friend, the American composer Andy Miller (Gene Kelly).
The plot shifts into its main gear when Étienne and Bill’s dancers (their girlfriends) run away with two sailors. Desperate for performers for their Sunday show, they approach Delphine and Solange. They offer the twins a deal: if the sisters perform in the fair's musical number, the carnies will give them a free ride to Paris in their caravan on Monday morning. This "contract" provides the structural framework for the rest of the film, leading to the climactic fair performance and the sisters' eventual departure.
The plot is essentially a "mechanized" series of near-misses. While the arrival of the trucks provides the physical movement, it is the sisters’ agreement to perform and the lost sheet music that create the specific threads of fate that Demy weaves together throughout the weekend.
The summary omits the subplot involving Dutrouz, a sadistic killer who is a regular at the café. While not the main engine of the plot, it provides a dark thematic counterpoint to the film's colorful optimism.
The summary mentions Maxence is stationed in town but omits that he is being 'demobbed' (leaving the navy) soon, which aligns his timeline urgency with the sisters' desire to leave.
The summary focuses on the sisters' plot actions but omits the context that Simon Dame and the twins' mother (Yvonne) are former lovers who tragically missed each other years ago, a key element of the film's 'missed connections' theme.
The plot of The Young Girls of Rochefort is set in motion by the arrival of a traveling fair (carnival) in the town square on a Friday morning. This event acts as the catalyst for the main characters, particularly the twin sisters Delphine and Solange, who dream of leaving their provincial life for Paris. Key inciting actions include: 1) The arrival of the carnies, Étienne and Bill, who eventually need replacement dancers after their original employees run off with sailors; 2) Delphine's breakup with gallery owner Guillaume and her discovery of a painting by the sailor Maxence that depicts her as his 'ideal woman'; 3) Solange's attempt to meet composer Andy Miller through music shop owner Simon Dame, leading to a chance encounter where she drops her sheet music. These converging events create the deadlines and opportunities that drive the narrative over the weekend.