The movies Greta Gerwig describes as “delicious”
Barbie is clearly and undeniably the result of Greta Gerwig‘s unfiltered creative vision, which is a rarity when talking about a $140million blockbuster hailing from a major studio and based on a world-renowned brand. However, the movie also drew its influences from across the length and breadth of the cinematic spectrum.
The candy-coloured cultural phenomenon’s wilful incorporation of countless genres ranging from drama and comedy to slapstick and satire via musical and fantasy appears to be indebted to one filmmaker more than most. That’s exactly why Gerwig described the work of Jacques Demy as “delicious”.
In a coincidental echo of her own status being married to one of her generation’s most prominent and singular filmmakers, Demy was the husband of the equally iconic Agnès Varda, a union of two titans if ever there was one. A key part of the French New Wave, he wasn’t quite as enamoured by realism as many of his contemporaries, with Demy’s work often characterised by its fantastical and elaborate aesthetic and drawing its influences from across the world.
When speaking to Letterboxd about the many films that inspired Barbie, Gerwig named no less than three of Demy’s pictures as direct inspirations. 1964’s musical The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is comprised entirely of recitative dialogue, although that’s just one of several reasons why Gerwig called it “astonishingly beautiful”.
Barbie required an innate mastery of colour so as not to overwhelm the frame with nothing but bright pinkish hues, something Gerwig revealed she and director of photography Rodrigo Prieto spent a lot of time figuring out, using Demy’s classic as a touchstone. “I loved the use of colour and the surrealness. Rodrigo Prieto and I were talking about that layering of the colours and how you’d shoot five different shades of pink or red in one shot and not have it overwhelm anything,” she said. “You feel like there’s separation, but that it’s vibrant. Everything feels painterly, and that was a big part of it.”
A more overt homage saw Gerwig acknowledge that Margot Robbie’s hairstyle in one scene was “definitely a nod to that Catherine Deneuve hair”, which she sported in The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. 1967’s The Young Girls of Rochefort also affected the Lady Bird director. She admitted that “I tried to not do every Jacques Demy movie” when espousing Barbie‘s spiritual forebears.
1969’s Model Shop may not be a musical like Gerwig’s other two picks, but she nonetheless celebrates it as “another one where he does these amazing constructed worlds that operate on their own rules”. Furthering her undying love for his filmography, she added: “His movies are delicious. Then they also have something underneath that’s quite moving and deep; they’re great.”
