|
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
(1964, French title:
Les Parapluies de Cherbourg)
For all the young
lovers of the wide, wide world...
Director: Jacques Demy, Not rated (Dad's rating PG)
  Starring
(actor, then singing actor): Catherine Deneuve/Danielle Licari, Nino
Casteinuovo/José Bartel, Anne Vernon/Christiane Legrand, Marc Michel/Georges
Blaness, Ellen Farner/Claudine Meunier, Mireille Perrey/Claire Leclerc
DML Rating:
★★★★★★★★★☆
- near perfect
"Why is Guy growing so
distant? I would have died for him. So why aren't I dead?" -
Geneviève Emery
Why watch this?
It's one of cinema's most enduring love stories.
Plot Summary: The
story follows Geneviève, a young French woman working in her
mother's umbrella boutique, and Guy, a handsome auto mechanic,
who fall deeply in love and plan to marry. Their passionate
romance is abruptly interrupted when Guy is drafted to serve in
the Algerian War, forcing the young couple to face a painful,
long-distance separation. As time passes and communication
becomes difficult, Geneviève must navigate unexpected life
circumstances, and her mother's pressures, that threaten the
future she and Guy envisioned together.
| |
Dad's Preview:
This French musical is unique in several ways. The entire film's
dialog is sung with accompanying classical music, much like an
opera - once I got used to this, it was not an issue.
Incidentally, the actors were not singers, so all vocals were
dubbed. Next, the usage of brilliant colors gives the romantic
film a sense of playfulness, reminding constantly that this is a
movie, and not a real life story. Neither of the previous
two points detract from the poignant, painful romance before us,
a tale that literally sings about the intensity of first love,
the realities of parental expectations, and the fact that life
moves on, dissolving old love affairs into the shadows of the
cold, snowy night. And we survive it, often for the best. It is
a film that stays with you. It even influenced Greta Gerwig's
hit 2023 film,
Barbie. |
|
Parc Film,
Madeleine Films, Beta
Film GmbH; 20th Century Fox
|
