Skip to main content

"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!!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Midnight Run (1988)

 I need to add one more to my [perfect movie] list: "Midnight Run" (1988). I don't think I had seen it before until now. It holds up well, it is very quotable, shot and edited really well. You can understand how this guy made "Beverly Hills Cop" four years earlier. I do think the secret of this (and BHC) is character. These characters are really well written and played. Charles Grodin is giving a master class in playing down beat against DeNiro's comedic version of "Taxi Driver". Yaphet Kotto looks like he is going to have an aneurysm - and Dennis Farina is truly a scary Chicago mobster. Added bonus - Danny Elfman soundtrack.
Post a Comment
Read more

Sinners (2025) - who are your people?

A Southern Gothic tale - with all the symbolism you care to find from that genre. What does it mean to belong? How does a community treat its undesirables? What role does religion play in defining good and clean? What do you have to give up to be part of the clan? This movie probes some very deep stuff.  If you just want the top-level show without all the questions this flick evokes - you get gangsters, vampires, and blues music. It is all the magic I found in a Pizza Hut Supreme when I was a kid. Wonderfully grotesque metaphors. Moving scores. Impact through sound design, camera focus, tracking, color palette and lighting. This movie is brilliantly made.  I am trying to put my finger on a performance that is stand out, but I can't really. It is quite an ensemble. I think if there is one series I loved it is when Stack goes to get supplies for the party: that negotiation with the girl by the truck, the greeting at the 'black' grocery, the shooting, the '1-shot' wher...
Post a Comment
Read more

Roman Holiday - a perfect closing scene

Roman Holiday: Never have the stakes been so low. And seldom has the romp been so much fun. This movie is effervescent. The sensibility of it fantastic. There is even a character arc for all the mains if that is what you want - Peck falls in love. Hepburn grows up and realizes she is a woman on a mission in control of her agenda. Albert even has his heart show up at the end - really all of them go through something in a very naturalistic way that I feel is unusual for film (certainly for 1950's US films). I do think that Eddie Albert deserves special mention - he is severely handsome and hilarious.  It may be mostly the beard, but he reminded me of Rob Cook. His character keeps getting dumped on his backside and getting his pants wet. He tries to 'help' and ends up in some slapstick shenanigans more than not. I don't know about the time around the release, but his performance is undermentioned in comparison to the other two these days. The closing scene where she knows ...
Post a Comment
Read more