Donkey Skin
Director: Jacques Demy
Cast: Catherine Deneuve, Jean Marais, Jacques Perrin
Inspired by Charles Perrault’s classic fairy tale, Donkey Skin follows the journey of a beautiful princess who must disguise herself in donkey skins to escape her father’s pursuit of marriage and ultimately understand the true meaning of love to have her identity restored.
As in many fairy tales, love is one of the strongest themes interwoven throughout the story and nowhere is this theme more vibrantly illustrated than in the characters of the King, the Prince and the beautiful Princess.
The King vows to his dying queen that he will only give his heart to a princess whose beauty surpasses that of the Queen. After rejecting all of the worthy maidens in his kingdom, the King finds himself falling in love with his beautiful daughter. The Princess loves her father the king, but she confuses a child’s love for her parent with romantic love. While the Princess is willing to marry her father out of love, her Fairy Godmother implores her not to marry her father. When the King declares his love for his daughter, the Princess challenges her father to prove his love by requesting he make three dresses of impossible beauty. When the King succeeds in fulfilling his daughter’s requests, she finally tells him to give her the skin of his prize donkey to win her love.
Likewise, the Prince also finds himself entranced by the mysterious and beautiful Donkey Skin. While many maidens try in vain to gain the Prince’s affection, only the beautiful Princess is able to truly win the Prince’s heart, but alas, she has vanished. The Princess’s ring symbolizes the love shared between her and the Prince. When she learns that the Prince’s love-struck heart can only be healed his true love, the Princess hides her ring in a cake as a token of her love for the Prince. When the Prince discovers the ring hidden in the cake, he vows that he will only give his heart to the woman the ring fits. When he restores the ring to the Princess’s hand, she reveals the truth of her identity and the Prince’s heart is healed by her love.
Donkey Skin is a creative and sincerely beautiful interpretation of Perrault’s fairy tale. While Donkey Skin possesses a subtle connection to Perrault’s story of Cinderella, the strength of the story and the unique expression of the characters makes the film unique. I would highly recommend this film to anyone who enjoys a classic and unique interpretation of fairy tales.
© 2013 – 2017 Keriane Kellogg. All rights reserved.
Director: Jacques Demy
Cast: Catherine Deneuve, Jean Marais, Jacques Perrin
Inspired by Charles Perrault’s classic fairy tale, Donkey Skin follows the journey of a beautiful princess who must disguise herself in donkey skins to escape her father’s pursuit of marriage and ultimately understand the true meaning of love to have her identity restored.
As in many fairy tales, love is one of the strongest themes interwoven throughout the story and nowhere is this theme more vibrantly illustrated than in the characters of the King, the Prince and the beautiful Princess.
The King vows to his dying queen that he will only give his heart to a princess whose beauty surpasses that of the Queen. After rejecting all of the worthy maidens in his kingdom, the King finds himself falling in love with his beautiful daughter. The Princess loves her father the king, but she confuses a child’s love for her parent with romantic love. While the Princess is willing to marry her father out of love, her Fairy Godmother implores her not to marry her father. When the King declares his love for his daughter, the Princess challenges her father to prove his love by requesting he make three dresses of impossible beauty. When the King succeeds in fulfilling his daughter’s requests, she finally tells him to give her the skin of his prize donkey to win her love.
Likewise, the Prince also finds himself entranced by the mysterious and beautiful Donkey Skin. While many maidens try in vain to gain the Prince’s affection, only the beautiful Princess is able to truly win the Prince’s heart, but alas, she has vanished. The Princess’s ring symbolizes the love shared between her and the Prince. When she learns that the Prince’s love-struck heart can only be healed his true love, the Princess hides her ring in a cake as a token of her love for the Prince. When the Prince discovers the ring hidden in the cake, he vows that he will only give his heart to the woman the ring fits. When he restores the ring to the Princess’s hand, she reveals the truth of her identity and the Prince’s heart is healed by her love.
Donkey Skin is a creative and sincerely beautiful interpretation of Perrault’s fairy tale. While Donkey Skin possesses a subtle connection to Perrault’s story of Cinderella, the strength of the story and the unique expression of the characters makes the film unique. I would highly recommend this film to anyone who enjoys a classic and unique interpretation of fairy tales.
© 2013 – 2017 Keriane Kellogg. All rights reserved.