The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

Rating:
Summary: Stunning...a treat for the senses.
Review: The Umbrellas of Cherbourg may very well be the best movie ever made. Its a treat for the eyes (the colors are STUNNING. The cinematography is beyond amazing), and the ears (the music-the movie is all sung-is fantastic), and the cast lights up the screen. The new letterboxed DVD has a great letterboxed transfer, and brand new subtitles (although they can be turned off.) Its worth every penny! END

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: Life goes on
Review: Subtle yet emotionally wrenching "movie in song" in glorious color about two young lovers torn apart by the Algerian War. The gorgeous Catherine Deneuve is breathtakingly luminous as the romantic yet mature seventeen-year old Genevieve Emery who finds herself unmarried and pregnant after her lover has departed for the war. Handsome Nino Castelnuovo (who resembles a young Louis Jourdan) stars as Guy Foucher, a garage mechanic of humble means who is equally in love with Genevieve. Tells the simple yet effectively poignant tale in three parts as in an operetta--the separation, departure, and reunion, with such a great deal of emotional depth experienced by the characters that we are totally engulfed in their story. The supporting cast is wonderful as well, with Anne Vernon as Genevieve's mother, a realistic woman who only wants the best for her child; Marc Michel as Genevieve's wealthy and kind suitor who is obsessively lovestruck and marries her despite the fact she is carrying another man's child; and lovely Ellen Farner as Guy's wife, the gentle yet strong young woman who consoles an understandably bitter and disillusioned Guy when he comes back from the war to find his beloved guardian dying and Genevieve married and raising his child with another man. This movie is more than just a heartbreaking tale about two lovers, however; it is about how young love doesn't always last and that we have to make practical decisions in life.

Rating:
Summary: Hauntingly Beautiful
Review: This movie is so incredibly beautiful. The storyline is excellent on its own...but the music just puts this one over the top. And while it's not a musical, singing the lyrics just seemed to natural. I can't remember the last time a movie affected me as much as this one has. This is one I would recommend again and again.

Rating:
Summary: Utterly romantic
Review: This French film from the early 1960s is essentially an opera about two young people, their declarations of undying love, and then subsequently, the peace they make with life. It is very, very beautiful, both visually and musically. Really, the film could have been about anything, as long as those lovely sets and songs were in place! I recommend this movie without reservation to any serious student of the history of film. It is also the perfect romantic movie.

Rating:
Summary: Bravo, Demy!
Review: Okay, before my comments have any meaning, you should know what I have always abhorred: artificial sentimentality, Whitney Houston/Celine Dion Vegas showroom doodoo, Hollywood musicals... you get the picture. I've never liked Catherine Denoooooove and her ice-princess/Chanel Number Five persona. My idea of a great love story is Leaving Las Vegas.

So guess what? I watch Umbrellas of Cherbourg and a week later I can't get the theme song out of my head. And it's not because the song is so great.

It's because the movie is.

Ms. Deneuve gives one of the all-time great performances and is totally believeable in the first act as a love-struck teenager. Mr. Demy's conception of the movie idea is genius (an opera without a spoken word that really features only two songs, played repetitively) and his execution is even better. The book-ended gas station scenes at the beginning and end could have been photographed by Walker Evans or painted by Ed Ruscha.

If it takes forever, I will wait for you...

Yeah... right.

This movie is heart-breaking in its UN-sentimentality and one of the great achievements in the history of cinema.


Rating:
Summary: "Watch What Happens"
Review: Jacques Demy created a mini-masterpiece with this homage to the classic Hollywood musicals from a decade before. The opening shot is just a hint of the wonderfully creative treat that lies ahead for the viewer. I will not give one moment of the film away but only concentrate on the following.
Catherine Deneuve and Nino Castlenuovo are the impossibly young and beautiful stars of this film. Were there ever two more beautiful actors in Europe at that time? I doubt it. They bring to life a true portrait of the tender and doomed love they share to the screen with a skill and grace that is unmatched. This visual perfection of youth and love is matched only by the glorious music of Michel Legrand. The score proves irresistible and sweeps the tender but thin story to the heights of grand opera. The use by Demy of color in the film is so precise and purposeful and helps add to the emotional pull of the entire effort.
Being that the film is presented entirely in song may feel for some at first a little strange, but I urge those who give The Umbrellas of Cherbourg a change to hang in there and "watch what happens." I promise you that the bright jazzy score will capture you. You will find yourself humming one of the more famous tunes days later.
And indeed the last scene is brilliantly handled and one of the great moments of romantic cinema.


Rating:
Summary: Young Love
Review: After 50+ years of movies, few stay in my heart as much as this one.
Deneuve is luminous. Music, colors are ravishing,
This movie is better the 5th time around!

Rating:
Summary: I dont think I've ever cried so hard!
Review: At the end of this movie i cried so hard I swore I'd never see it again. And so far, I haven't. But not because the movie is bad!
This movie is just absolutely heartbreaking. All the dialogue is sung, but it's done so naturally that by the end of the movie you dont even notice. Catherine Deneuve literally radiates as Genevieve, the daughter of an umbrella shop owner. Although Deneuve was only 19 at the time of the filming, she projects a maturity and depth that make the movie so much more than a "boy meets girl, boy loses girl" romance. I love how as the movie progresses her face becomes more stony and blank, as Genevieve's mindset progresses from romantic to practical. Nino Castelnuovo as Guy is not quite as memorable as Deneuve, but he doesnt have any of the irritating chipperness of American movie musical stars.
The movie, despite its "movie musical" influences, is very French. The story is small and slight, but the emotions are big, and nothing is resolved neatly. There isnt a "happy" or "sad" ending. Michael Legrand's score is known for the hit "I Will Wait for You" but there aren't any large production numbers a la Singin' in the Rain. What could be a weakness is turned into a strength: this might be the most intimate, sincere, romantic movie musical ever made. Guy and Genevieve are not the perky, perpetually smiling musical couple. Their romance might look silly and insignificant on paper, but it absolutely broke my heart. By the final scene, I was sobbing like a baby.
The movie is shot with deliberately artificial interiors and a color scheme. Director Jacques Demy favors bright, symbolic colors that today look a little unsubtle (red = passion, etc) but overall add to the feeling of sincerity and romance that permeates every shot in the film. I wish the DVD had more extras -- maybe an interview with the elusive Deneuve, or a commentary track. Alas it doesn't, which is disappointing, but the feature movie itself is so great I couldn't imagine myself not having this dvd.

Rating:
Summary: Lovely film making! Unique!
Review: There is no other film like this one! Shot in the early 60s, it is still a favorite among film lovers. It's no wonder that it recently celebrated its 40th anniversary!

Catherine Deneuve plays a young girl who is faced with an important life decision in her tender youth that affects her life and the man she loves who must leave for military service. Nino Castelnuovo plays the young man who returns form war to the news of his love married to another man.

THE most beautiful film ever shot! Beautiful music that will staya with you forever!