Written by: Jacques Demy
Starring: Catherine Deneuve, Anne Vernon, Nino Castelnuovo, Marc Michel
Rating: [4.5/5]
Years of youth come with moments of exploration and a naive surety in how life will go without taking any consideration the roadblocks in the way. In a way, it’s a positive aspect of youth because in this era of life, dreaming still has this joy before the realities of the world dig their claws into us. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg explores this through the prism of young love and wraps us into a beautifully designed and immaculately produced musical that leaves an awe-inspiring impression.
Young lovers, Geneviève (Catherine Deneuve) and Guy (Nino Castelnuovo) pledge their love to each other despite the disapproval of the former’s mother. When Guy gets called to go to war, Geneviève gets forced to make a decision about her future when communication with the love of her life becomes scant.
Not many films deliver the type of experience The Umbrellas of Cherbourg does in engrossing us in something so visually gorgeous and through the music utilized as a way to communicate all aspects of the narrative. Whether this appears in the dialogue or the score effervescently outlining the mood, music plays an integral role in the film and communicates not only with the characters but to the audience. With these characters singing their dialogue to each other may come across as jarring for those not expecting it but there’s distinct beauty in what it produces as a result. This lyricism displays the natural poetry of language and communication that allows singing to further heighten the emotional meaning behind it. Saying something to one’s lover carries some power, but singing it to them presents something much more special.
Through the connection between Geneviève and Guy, we have two individuals who have fallen head over heels for each other in a way many have in youth but this all occurs before the realities of life take hold. The dreamy aesthetic of the feature plays into this idea of the magic of love ensures these two will gravitate towards each other but the realism that plays in where practicality plays into their lives works in the supposed tragedy at the center of it all. Moving on and making something of life outside of the initial plans made when young and free ultimately becomes the resounding message this feature wants to communicate and the way it does it works quite effectively and will break your heart at the same time.
Surrounding this love story we have some of the most sensational and awe-inspiring production design ever utilized in film. A beautiful use of color brings the world around Geneviève and Guy to life which plays into the wondrous fantastical elements of the narrative. All of the hues of pink and the starkness of when red gets utilized make this presentation of Cherbourg as an otherworldly place at times but serve as the perfect background for love to grow in such astounding ways. Each frame presents a chance to pause and just take in Jacques Demy’s vision of this world and it all contributes to the feelings of joy and loss the film wants to elicit from its audience.
Additionally, the music plays an integral part of a film where the score and the singing tell the complete story. Michel Legrand puts together such a wondrous score to take us through this story that instantly imprinted itself in my ears. Something so beguiling and melancholic at the same time captures the mood at the center of these characters as they shift from the unbridled optimism of the future and the reality of their circumstances.
Tasked with making us yearn and mourn the love lost and gained throughout the narrative, Catherine Deneuve and Nino Castelnuovo excel tremendously. Not only do they have jaw-dropping looks but the way they nail not only the lipsyncing but the acting involved with it deserves immense praise. You buy everything they sell to you as they present this love story and their performance of “I Will Wait For You” displays it all in the way they capture this youthful dramaticism in the way they speak about the love they have for each other as if any sort of separation becomes this affront to something completely special. Based on how they exhibit this love, I believe them as young and naive as they may be. You cannot question the power of this young love even if the majority of the remaining runtime following Guy’s departure for war finds them apart. We yearn for them on behalf of each other even when they realize life must take them in a different direction and these two actors play a major part as to why.
Somehow my first Jacques Demy film at the time of writing this review, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg not only got me excited to watch every single one of his films but it enraptured me in a story that kept me under its wondrous spell. The impact and influence this feature has on other musicals cannot be questioned as it utilizes its music and vibrant colors to follow and fall in love with these characters as we wish for the best for them. They find themselves in a world where they can surely dream but when it comes down to living life, practicality reigns above it all teaching a valuable lesson we should never forget but in such an operative and effective manner. Truly one of the greatest movie musicals ever crafted.
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