The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)

……………………………………………………………

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg Movie Review

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is a 1964 musical film directed by Jacques Demy and starring Catherine Deneuve and Nino Castelnuovo. It is such a wonderful, charming experience.

This is the kind of film that perfectly showcases how you can make an original film out of clichéd parts. And truly the story here is very familiar. You have a young, incredibly beautiful couple who are deeply in love, but he goes to war and the two are tragically separated for two years. Then she gets pregnant with his baby and has to choose whether or not to wait for him or go with a different a man.

……………………………………………………………

“Stop crying. Look at me. People only die of love in movies“

……………………………………………………………

This entire plot is somewhat of a rip-off of the Russian classic ‘The Cranes Are Flying’. However, the approach to this movie is entirely different. Not only is it effervescent, but so light and energetic. It is a movie that any musical fan would most certainly appreciate. And yes, that is another interesting thing about it. The entire film is sung, literally every line of dialogue is sung as a song and you have a major theme repeated throughout the film.

Another authentic aspect to it and the one thing that I found to be the most admirable in it has to be that ending. The two meet at the gas station where he’s working years later and it’s Christmas and the snowflakes are a gorgeous backdrop to the sequence that unfolds in the most heartbreaking, nostalgic manner. They choose to go live their separate lives with their new families and this ending is just so emotional and even poetic in its nature as the combination of beautiful music and superb scenery make it a winner in my book.

……………………………………………………………

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is such a great musical. You don’t have any full-fledged songs here, but you’ve got an unforgettable theme in I Will Wait for You which is just such a gorgeous theme and one of the best of its time. It perfectly accompanied its somewhat epic story through a continuous use of it and it never felt overly used as it was utilized perfectly in every scene.

The music is beautiful, but so are the people in it. Both Catherine Deneuve and Nino Castelnuovo are so charming and they are such a handsome, pretty couple. Both are just so beautiful to watch and rarely have I seen a prettier couple in any movie. But Catherine Deneuve also gave a terrific performance that ranks as one of her best in a very impressive filmography.

……………………………………………………………

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg has its problems. The tone in particular is troublesome as the movie just doesn’t know how to treat serious issues. For example, there are two deaths in the film’s third act and one is so abruptly handled and the other is just barely mentioned. But I liked the humor quite a bit as it stemmed from the characters singing even in the most mundane of actions which was sometimes hilarious. And of course that cinematography is gorgeous and I really found its colors to be fascinating. The film is so colorful and vivid with extremely bright colors that it made the movie feel very much alive. You have the color of pink repeated throughout which was quite interesting and the clothing matching the house wallpapers was especially interesting and it made for quite an involving experience.

……………………………………………………………….