The Umbrellas of Cherbourg Reviews

A chef d'ouvre by any means. Demy is right when he had the intuition that a musical film has to be all sung or not sung at all. The tempo, the rythm, the wide spaces, all has a non terminal sadness becaase is love at youth. Deneuve is myth.

Since this movie is pretty much a classic, especially in France, I was quite eager to check it out. Anyway, I thought it was pretty awesome to see Catherine Deneuve at such a young age. Indeed, she is such a terrific actress, she was already awesome back then and the more movies I watch starring this actress, the more she fascinates me. What about the movie itself ? To be honest, even though I thought it was indeed pretty good with some nice songs, at the end of the day, it was obvious that it was not my thing. For example, all the dialogue in the film is sung and while the fan of the genre praised this choice, I always thought it was a rather tedious gimmick. Still even though I have never been a big fan of musicals, I liked this one. Indeed, I can't deny the fact that it was very well made and it definitely had some quirky qualities. Since this movie was a big critical success, a few years later, Jacques Demy would make another musical called ‘Les demoiselles de Rochefort’, also starring the lovely Catherine Deneuve. To conclude, even though I’m not a huge fan, it is still a classic and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

The fact that this film’s dialogue is entirely sung, makes it a mandatory viewing. Director Jacques Demy incorporated song and dance in the service not of escape, but of realism. The effect is riveting and profoundly moving.

Everyone should see this for several reasons: Michel Legrand’s score is superbly enchanting; Catherine Deneuve gives an outstanding, convincing and unforgettable performance, probably the best in all her career. And most of all, since, in the real world, not all stories have a happy ending, the director was deft enough to convey that with emotional honesty, magic and maturity.