The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

Rating:
Summary: Just Buy the Damn Thing!
Review: Don't think my comments could ever do justice to this film --- so just go ahead and BUY IT! Easily one of the most unique and heartfelt romances ever, but NEVER sappy, you just cannot go wrong here. The music, the sets, the colors, and that INCREDIBLE ending will stick with you for years. A classic for that romantic in us all (and I usually like hardcore horror!).

Rating:
Summary: One of the best musicals ever made!
Review: Up until 6 months ago, I had never heard of "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg." My mom used to hum a couple of tunes from this French musical, but I never made the connection. However, I came across the DVD of this classic musical a bit back while searching for a present for my mother, and I quickly fell in love with this musical. It is different from most musicals, as it is (1) French, and (2) sung the whole way through. All the "dialogue" is sung in the recitative manner of opera music and lead so naturally into the actual songs that you really can't tell the difference. The story itself concerns the bittersweet love between the young daughter (Catherine Deneuve) of a shopkeeper and a young man who learns shortly that he has been drafted to join the French army.

It is a beautiful story told simply and effectively by one of the French New Wave directors, Jacques Demy. As I understand it, he made a few more musicals starring Catherine Deneuve (The Young Girls of Rochefort, Donkeyskin), but this film was his most popular musical. For a long time, this film was considered "lost" due to deterioration of the film stock, its vivid colors reduced to pale shadows of its original glorious hues. However, thanks to recovery of an alternate negative that retained the original colors, the film was abled to be restored to its former brilliance. This restored version of the film is what is available currently on DVD.

Truthfully, it looks quite fantastic. The colors are briliant enough to rival the Hollywood Technicolor process, and the sound is clean. I am glad I bought this DVD, and it has quickly become one of my favorite musicals.

I only have a few problems with the DVD itself. First, subtitles are only in English. I would have liked to have seen French subtitles as well, but such was not the case. Also, the film transfer gets a little blocky and pixelated here and there; I understand that Fox/Lorber has a questionable on/off reputation with their DVDs, and I wish they could have been just a tad bit more careful with this classic. This marred an otherwise beautiful restoration effort. Lastly, I wished there were more chapter marks. Some of the best songs lie no where close to any of the chapter marks and thus require either bookmarking or fast-forwarding. Not a big concern, but just a little inconvenient.

However, this is still an excellent film, and I would HIGHLY recommend it to any lovers of musicals! Purchase/rent/watch this film without delay! And a note to Fox/Lorber - how about releasing "The Young Girls of Rochefort" out on DVD? I know it was somewhat restored as well and had a limited re-release; this would be an excellent companion piece to Umbrellas of Cherbourg!

Rating:
Summary: A Five Cry Classic
Review: The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is a classic of world cinema which shows the bold style of film maker Jacques Demy. Demy has all the dialogue sung to the pounding emotional score of Michel Legrand. Catherine Deneuve is etherial in one of her first leading roles and the role which really brought her to international attention.As a different twist on the French New Wave movement, Umbrellas will tear your heart out as any man or woman who has known the bitter twists of unhappy love can attest.The restoration of the film ranks up their with the work done to restore Vertigo or Lawrence of Arabia. The only fault on this DVD is a somewhat flaky menu system. Otherwise, it is a job well done.Get out your hanky and watch this film !

Rating:
Summary: CRYIN' IN THE RAIN
Review: Director Jacques Demy's UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG is simply the best tragi-musical ever made. Every word is sung and it's never boring nor ridiculous because Michel Legrand's music is outstanding. Light, pathetic or lyric, the songs are part of the action of this street opera. Catherine Deneuve is angelic in the role of a sixteen year girl in love with a car mechanician. And Cherbourg, partly recreated in studio, has never been so melancholic.

This DVD transfer is absolutely remarkable and gives us the opportunity to admire the rainbow of colours that Jacques Demy has created for UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG. I can only agree with Siskel & Ebert who, after the re-run in 1992 of this masterpiece, wrote : " If your town doesn't have a theatre playing it, build one ! ". Now, if you want my advice, you can spare some money by buying the DVD.

Rating:
Summary: A great movie by a great director
Review: To help people decide if buying the DVD is worth the money, I would say "do it" even though the transfer is not Criterion or Columbia Tristar quality. In fact, it is the only Fox Lorber title I know that is presenting a decent transfer. Jacques Demy was a great artist, if only we could have the chance to see his other films on DVD (Les demoiselles de Rochefort, Lola ...) In Les parapluies de Cherbourg we have frames that look like paintings, music that is unforgettable and a talent to tell a story like few directors have.

Rating:
Summary: Best film ever..
Review: One of the best musicals ever filmed....the art direction alone is worth having it on DVD (or any format) alone; not to mention a winning, haunting score; AND a young, stunning Catherine Deneuve.

Rating:
Summary: Get your hankerchifs ready
Review: I never cry in the movies. Except for this one. If you don't go for the crying game, it is not for you. Deneuve is simply gorgeous, and a serious conteder for the most beautiful actress ever. P.S. someone here asked whatever happened to Nino Castelnuovo (Guy). Well, he was last seen in The English Patient (1996) in the role of D'Agostino.

Rating:
Summary: Deneuve at her finest!!
Review: The film LES PARAPLUIES DE CHERBOURG is one of the finest movies ever made. It has tragedy, humor, beauty, grace, and a superbly haunting score that will stay in your mind long after the film is over.Keep your handkerchief handy for Deneuve's line of "Ne Me Laisse Pas". This is my favorite movie of all time, and it has been beautifully remastered in this latest edition.

Rating:
Summary: If You're Not Moved, Better Check to See if You Have a Pulse
Review: I remembered seeing the film on TV when I was a kid and never forgot the theme music or the bittersweet mood. On seeing it again (on video in 1999), I was delighted, even overwhelmed by the cool jazzy music and wild 60s colors and the exuberant camerawork. Sure it's a bit corny, but it's so lovingly-made, so lyrical, and Catherine Deneuve is so cool, that I easily overlooked the flaws. Surprisingly, the all-sung dialogue works. Can't think of any other film like it, so for that reason alone it's worth seeing. Try to get it in letterbox. And have a box of kleenex handy. (Love the bit where she's six months pregnant and lights a cigarette anyway!)

Rating:
Summary: A Film of Life, Love & Magic. . ,
Review: The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is a film of life, love and magic. It sweeps you up and involves you into a time and place of song, innocense and betrayal. A must see for those in love and those who wish to be entertained the old fashioned way. With a wonderful story!