The Umbrellas of CherbourgThat familiar sting of one's first "true love", it leaves an impression, or even a wound. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is a love story between two young adults-- although Geneviève Emery (Catherine Deneuve) is just seventeen years old, and even her boyfriend, Guy (Nino Castelnuovo) is merely twenty. They are young and in love, with a relentless passion for one another which none could question, except Geneviève's mother, Madame Emery (Anne Vernon), who does not convince her daughter by her preaching. But their love will be true, now and always; how could it not?
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The Umbrellas of Cherbourg pulls you into this tale of tragic romance through its operatic presentation, lampshaded early in the film when Guy tells his coworkers that he's taking Geneviève to the cinema to see Carmen, only to have one of them tell him he "doesn't like movies where all they do is sing". The melodies that run through the film become familiar, played at different intervals to evoke the inherent emotion; you'd have a heart of stone not to let the music that plays as Geneviève and Guy say goodbye not tug at your heartstrings. And, yes, Geneviève and Guy do need to depart, as indicated from the very first title card. Just as Geneviève's mother predicted, he is called up for the draft, into military duty in Algeria, for a tour expected to be two years in length. The draft is devastating to the young couple, who had already been talking about their dreams and hopes for the future, even debating what to name their first born child. It's a departure from even a short time before, when they were getting dressed up for one another as youngsters do, going out dancing and swooning over one another. Neither Geneviève nor guy have especially glamorous aspirations for their future, Geneviève telling her mother that they will live modestly--a philosophy which might have served her mother well, given her sudden, if predictable, descent into debt, necessitating that she sell some of her jewels. And it is at the jewelry store where Geneviève first catches the eye of a visiting tradesman of high-quality jewels, Roland Cassard (Marc Michel). His involvement in the lives of the Emerys is one which grows in the absence of Guy, Madame Emery seeing him as not only a surrogate for Guy, but a wealthy one at that. She hints at--then asserts--the virtues of a wealthy purveyor of gemstones to her daughter, although Geneviève is skeptical; not only is she committed to Guy, but on their last night together, Geneviève became pregnant with Guy's child, and there would be no hiding it from Cassard. Maybe it is to appease her mother, maybe her resolve falters, or maybe she simply can't believe a successful man would want to take a pregnant girl's hand in marriage, but she only agrees to marry Cassard if he were informed of what that means. Little by little, the firmament of true love washes away beneath the rains in Cherbourg.
The music of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is a surprising mix between the heavily orchestral--primarily with a bevy of sorrowful strings--and a kind of jazz-like liberty, sometimes playful, sometimes overwrought, like the story of Geneviève and Guy. The set design feels like something out of a play; not that it is unrealistic, but that it seems like a fantasy of a time and place in this mythical local. Little touches like a chair substituting for a nightstand and fish wrapped in newspaper give that authenticity, but do not detract from the vibrancy of color and intensity of the mise en scène. It's a strange feeling to watch The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and discover that the heartfelt pangs of sorrow which Geneviève and Guy feel for each other could ever give way to anything else; young love is always that way, but the romantic in us wants to believe it. The second part of the film is titled "Absence", and it is ironic in light of the old phrase "absence makes the heart grow fonder"; it's as if the second part is always forgot: "but only until it passes". It might be easy to judge Geneviève as an inconsistent and unfaithful girl, but that would be forgetting that she is a girl, one whose passions had taken her over, the weight in her heart and the anxiety of Guy's fate an albatross around her young neck. There's no reason to suspect that Cassard is an evil or unkind man--a bit formal in that he asks Geneviève's mother for the girl's hand in marriage first, but he is a gentleman and is about as attractive as Guy. When Guy finally returns to Cherbourg--only to find that the woman he loves has left with nary a farewell--he is devastated. He scowls and sulks, embittered, his joie de vivre drained all away. His life begins to fall apart, and out of desperation, he solicits the affections of an old friend, the caretaker of his Aunt Elise (Mireille Perrey), the quiet but sweet Madeline (Ellen Farner). Madeline has some justifiable suspicions that Guy is only using their proximity relationship to fill the void left by Geneviève; the name Madeline has associations with rememberance, and is--interestingly enough--also the name of the woman who is the object of surrogate affection in Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo. But Guy proclaims he is through with Geneviève, and he tries to leave his soured past behind. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg could be described as a story about the folly of youth, particularly in matters of the heart, and that no matter how much we proclaim that we shant love another, we shall if we let it be. But that may be my impression; one could view the ending as either tragic or triumphant, and that is another strength of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.
Recommended for: Fans of a musical love story, but a love story more emotionally heart-rending and sorrowful, and yet fulfilling in a way which defies cliches about happiness being contingent on true love. Also for those who like to imagine what things looked like in the small town of Cherbourg, France in the late Fifties and early Sixties, throughout the various seasons.
The music of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is a surprising mix between the heavily orchestral--primarily with a bevy of sorrowful strings--and a kind of jazz-like liberty, sometimes playful, sometimes overwrought, like the story of Geneviève and Guy. The set design feels like something out of a play; not that it is unrealistic, but that it seems like a fantasy of a time and place in this mythical local. Little touches like a chair substituting for a nightstand and fish wrapped in newspaper give that authenticity, but do not detract from the vibrancy of color and intensity of the mise en scène. It's a strange feeling to watch The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and discover that the heartfelt pangs of sorrow which Geneviève and Guy feel for each other could ever give way to anything else; young love is always that way, but the romantic in us wants to believe it. The second part of the film is titled "Absence", and it is ironic in light of the old phrase "absence makes the heart grow fonder"; it's as if the second part is always forgot: "but only until it passes". It might be easy to judge Geneviève as an inconsistent and unfaithful girl, but that would be forgetting that she is a girl, one whose passions had taken her over, the weight in her heart and the anxiety of Guy's fate an albatross around her young neck. There's no reason to suspect that Cassard is an evil or unkind man--a bit formal in that he asks Geneviève's mother for the girl's hand in marriage first, but he is a gentleman and is about as attractive as Guy. When Guy finally returns to Cherbourg--only to find that the woman he loves has left with nary a farewell--he is devastated. He scowls and sulks, embittered, his joie de vivre drained all away. His life begins to fall apart, and out of desperation, he solicits the affections of an old friend, the caretaker of his Aunt Elise (Mireille Perrey), the quiet but sweet Madeline (Ellen Farner). Madeline has some justifiable suspicions that Guy is only using their proximity relationship to fill the void left by Geneviève; the name Madeline has associations with rememberance, and is--interestingly enough--also the name of the woman who is the object of surrogate affection in Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo. But Guy proclaims he is through with Geneviève, and he tries to leave his soured past behind. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg could be described as a story about the folly of youth, particularly in matters of the heart, and that no matter how much we proclaim that we shant love another, we shall if we let it be. But that may be my impression; one could view the ending as either tragic or triumphant, and that is another strength of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.
Recommended for: Fans of a musical love story, but a love story more emotionally heart-rending and sorrowful, and yet fulfilling in a way which defies cliches about happiness being contingent on true love. Also for those who like to imagine what things looked like in the small town of Cherbourg, France in the late Fifties and early Sixties, throughout the various seasons.