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Regular
Price $24.98
Starring:
José Bartel,
Michel Benoist,
Georges Blaness,
Dorothée Blank,
Pierre Caden,
Directed By:
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Release Date: 1964-12-16
Studio: KOCH LORBER FILMS
Format:
Anamorphic,
Color,
DVD-Video,
Original recording remastered,
Widescreen,
NTSC,
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Customer Reviews for
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
Classic Favorite
I don't usually like this type of movie, it is sung all the way through, but the music is so haunting, that you will remember it long after the memories of the actual story is gone.The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
Masterpiece That Stands the Test of Time
"The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" is a one-of-a-kind movie. All of the lines are sung, to a beautiful score, but there are no traditional character solos, chorus numbers, or choreography. So it's not your average musical. The closest thing to a "show-stopper" in the movie is the stunning Oscar-nominated "I Will Wait for You."
The plot is pretty easy to follow, yet it develops the characters quite well. The story is set in Cherbourg in 1958, and we first meet Guy, a car mechanic, getting off work to visit his love interest Genevieve. Genevieve's mother runs a business, the Umbrellas of Cherbourg, and soon discovers that she needs a lot of money to pay off the store's debt. She unsuccessfully tries to sell some jewels at a store, but meets a suave Jewel dealer named Cassard who offers to buy the jewelry. It is clear that Cassard is interested in Genevieve. In another twist, Guy has to leave to complete his required 2 years of military service in Algeria. What will happen to Guy and Genevieve, and Cassard, and Genevieve's mother, and Guy's godmother? Watch and find out!
Another way in which "Umbrellas" is unique is that it does not try to opt for easy answers. Without giving away the specifics, I can say that the ending is happy, but not in the way viewers would expect it to be, and there are lots of unresolved issues. The ending has a mix of happiness and agony, much the way life is most of the time. Watch "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" and be enchanted; there's simply not another movie like it.The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
A film for all lovers of the world, the young and the old,
The Winner of Cannes Film Festival's Golden Palm in 1964 and five times Oscar nominee, Jacques Demy's/Michell Legrand "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg", is a superb romantic movie. It tells a very simple story of love lost but not forgotten in such enchanting, unusual, and ambitious way with such delightful results that no other musical or romance was able to achieve since. The beauty of the film lies in the unique combination of color and sound. Every word is sung with no spoken dialogs, and every scene has perfect harmony in colors with the clothes of the characters matching the interiors and exteriors of the sets. The movie made a superstar out of 20 years old Catherine Denueve as teenager Genevieve, a girl madly in love with Guy (Nino Castelnuovo), a garage mechanic. I have not seen the film for long time and should admit that while re-watching it last night, for the first ten or 15 minutes, I had some doubts and reservations about constant music and singing that make The Umbrellas of Cherbourg more of the filmed opera than a musical. But the more I watched, the more I became overwhelmed by its kind and sweet tenderness and I enjoyed with all my heart the unique romantic delight.
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
French Cinema at its Best!
This is my favorite foreign film of all time. The dialog is entirely sung in French, the music is captivating, the set design is breathtaking, and the acting is brilliant. Catherine Deneuve never looked so young, beautiful, and innocent as she appears in this movie. The movie's ending gives the viewer an unexpected but sometimes so true dose of reality. This is my favorite foreign film of all time. I love it!!!The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
A bit overwhelming, but in a very beautiful way
This movie is like the proverbial box of chocolates--everything looks so perfect and appetizing that you have a hard time deciding on where to start or on what to concentrate. Between the acting, the cinematography, the sets, the costumes, the singing, the music, the plot, it is a bit difficult to take everything in at the same time. You find yourself suddenly looking at a gaudily painted door, an interesting camera movement, a lamp, listening to a particular instrument in the score, and snapping out of it with the sudden realization you have not been paying any attention to the dialogue. If any movie ever deserved to be called an assault on the senses, this is it, except it is an assault of the most artistic and tasteful kind imaginable. It's easy to suspect that Francois Ozon was inspired by this movie to do his 8 Women, which is a similar sensual overload and also (surprise, surprise) stars Deneuve.
Most musicals either try to build up the plot to such a dramatic point that it justifies the characters's breaking out into song and dance (West Side Story (Special Edition DVD Collector's Set)) or simply never try to suggest they are more than entertaining fluff pieces, where the spoken dialogue just keeps the plot moving and provides a bridge to the next song (Singin' in the Rain (Two-Disc Special Edition)). The transition between spoken dialogue and song is, at any rate, the problem, and often seems a bit awkward. This movie eliminates the issue of transitions by simply eliminating transitions: Every line in it is sung, which seems a bit silly for about ten minutes but then works splendidly as the lovers begin to make plans for their future together.
The DVD is not exactly heavy on extras, unfortunately, but then again, a good work of art is a complete statement in itself and does not require commentary to enjoy it, and this is a unquestionably a very good work of art.The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
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