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"The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" (1964) - a lush opera

Classified as a musical romantic drama, I would call it an opera. There is NO spoken dialog. The way the characters flow and move, I wondered if the music was diegetic to the scenes. They are certainly singing (even if their sound is voice-overed after the fact) - but it looks to me like they are listening to the same soundtrack as the audience.

It stars Catherine Deneuve, Nino Castelnuovo, Anne Vernon, Marc Michel, and Ellen Farner. I almost watched it about 100 times simply for Ms. Deneuve - but now that I have seen it, I would watch it 99 more. I want to go find more projects with Anne Vernon in them. She was my favorite.


This is set in France during the Algerian War. That is the catalyst that tears these lovers apart. In spite of everything being sung-through and the score doing some of the lifting for the character’s moods or feelings, I found the acting to be compelling and naturalistic. Teen lovers act like teen lovers. The unrequited beauty acts like a jilted young adult. The windowed mother acts like a parent with a breadth of concern for herself and the well being of her daughter. Even the attractive interloper is easy to understand. The timing of their relationships is contrived, but it doesn’t feel rushed or weird. That is unusual for cinematic drama (although maybe not for mid-60’s French cinema).


In addition to all that, especially when you think of 1960's film, the sets, lighting, and cinematography is GORGEOUS. It is a work of visual art from top to bottom. A friend of mine described it as lush. I think he misspelled it: LUSH!!

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