The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)

Posted on February 18, 2015 by 4 Star Films

It is hard to remember a time when I was so devastatingly sad due to a film, and it does not leave a deep hurt but a more wistful despondency that is far more real. However, that’s enough misery for the time being. Directed by Jacques Demy and starring an exquisitely young Catherine Deneuve, this cinematic opera is a moving musical piece that looks to be conventional and turns out to be quite the opposite.

The story begins in November of 1957 with a young mechanic named Guy (Nino Castelnuovo) who is deeply in love with the beautiful 16-year-old Genevieve (Deneuve). Guy cares a great deal for his godmother Elise who has a caregiver to look after her. Genevieve helps out her mother in running a small umbrellas shop in Cherbourg which allows them to scrape by. They must sell some family heirlooms to a kindly jeweler who is smitten with Genevieve. However, Genevieve and Guy have plans of marriage until Guy learns suddenly that he has been drafted for the war in Algeria. They spend their last hours together, and she vows to wait for his return.

In the following months, it becomes evident that Genevieve is pregnant, but her mother tells her that Guy has probably forgotten her already. The jeweler, Roland Cassard (Marc Michel), professes his love for Genevieve and agrees to adopt her unborn child. Thus, partially on the urging of her mother Genevieve accepts his proposal and they are soon married leaving Cherbourg for good.

Finally, Guy returns from the war and things have changed. He now has a limp and is fed up with his old work at the garage. Furthermore, the Umbrellas shop is sold and Genevieve is wed and gone. Adding insult to injury his godmother soon passes away. With no one else to turn to, he looks to the caretaker Madeleine, and he realizes her love for him. They get married and he turns his life around with her help.

The years pass, and now during Christmas of 1963, a car pulls into Guy’s new gas station. After many years, the two former lovers come face to face once more. Now they have marriages and children, and their interactions are painfully aloof. They have moved on with their lives and they have moved on from their passionate romance.

True, their lives have become sensible, but in this opera that Demy has constructed, this conclusion is sad and bittersweet. And yet if this were the only painful moment that would be one thing, but there are so many that touch the heart and move the viewer. When Guy goes off to the army and takes off on the train we can feel the great weight of anguish. More often than not, you can read the sadness on the face of these characters which complement the beautiful ballads they utter. In other words, it’s one thing to recount the plot and quite another to watch the events unfold.

I have to say that I had never seen a film that played out entirely through song, and even in the opening sequence, Demy consciously melds the diverse forms of film and opera. Umbrellas has the vibrancy and color of movies and takes the dramatic story line and songs of opera, to create a unique piece of musical artistry complete with acts and all. Its colors are bright and vibrant–utterly distinct in their composition. Everything from the bikes to the umbrellas and even back alleyways are beautiful. Although there are many magnificent melodies, rather surprisingly there is not one specific song that stands out (Well, maybe the theme), but instead, it plays rather like one continuous song with different sections and overtures that complement while not overshadowing each other.

Demy’s earlier film Lola also gives an interesting insight into the character of Roland Cassard who once again becomes acquainted with a mother and her daughter in a shop. This time around he has accomplished his dream of traveling the world as a diamond merchant, however, Lola is still heavy on his heart. Another thing that is remarkable about the film is the weather which in many ways plays as another character. The varying degrees of rain and snow dictate the mood and shift with the changing seasons. There’s no doubt that Jacques Demy and his collaborator Michel Legrand created something special here that elevates the musical to a heartfelt tragedy of romance. That’s something many men would not be brave enough to do.

4.5/5 Stars

Repulsion (1965)

Posted on August 10, 2014 by 4 Star Films

Directed by Roman Polanski and starring Catherine Deneuve, this British Psychological thriller is in the same vain as Psycho. Carol is a manicurist who is often absent-minded at work and she returns home to an apartment that she shares with her older sister. She passively resists the advances of an infatuated young man and at home she must live through her sister and a boyfriend in the next room.

*May Contain Spoilers
Then, they leave and an attached Carol cannot bear her sister to leave her alone. The next days and weeks she sinks into a unstable state and slowly loses her sanity while losing track of reality at the same time. She is sent home from work, becomes even more preoccupied, and then begins hallucinating back in her home. When Colin comes to speak with her she is still unresponsive and she unexpectedly bludgeons him to death. Then, later on the annoyed landlord comes by for his money, and then makes advances on her, only to be killed by a frightened Carol. Helen and her boyfriend return to find the apartment in disarray and Carol out of sorts and concerned neighbors come to spectate. The camera closes in on a family photo and a young Carol’s perturbing face.

This low budget documentary grade black and white film still packs a powerful punch and the best word to describe it is probably disconcerting. Unfortunately, I had never heard of the cinematographer Gilbert Taylor, but he had several wonderful films in his catalog including Dr. Strangelove, A Hard Day’s Night, Star Wars, and of course Repulsion.

4/5 Stars

The Best Films of Catherine Deneuve

Posted on July 31, 2014 by 4 Star Films

1. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
2. The Young Girls of Rochefort
3. Belle de Jour
4. Repulsion
5. Tristana
6. Persepolis
7. The Last Metro
8. Dancer in the Dark
9. A Christmas Tale
10. Mississippi Mermaid
11. Un Flic

The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967)

Posted on March 19, 2014 by 4 Star Films

Directed by Jacques Demy and starring an ensemble cast including Catherine Deneuve, Francois Doreleac, Gene Kelly, Michel Piccoli, George Chakiris, Grover Paul, and Danielle Darrieux, this is a whimsical French musical.

The film opens with a group of performers coming into the town of Rochefort to get ready for a big outdoor show. They become acquainted with the local hangout that includes a kindly matron and many locals including an idealistic artist and sailor, who is searching for his ideal lover.

Nearby her two adult twin daughters hold piano and ballet lessons as they two get their little prodigies ready for the big show. Delphine is fed up with her suitor and desires a new love while Solange on her part hopes to advance her career as a pianist. She goes to the proprietor of a local music store to see if he can introduce her to a prestigious American friend.

The dramatic irony sets in, and the plot is constantly moved forward through song. Yvonne at the café is still depressed over a split with a lover 10 years prior because he had an unfortunate name. Solange has a chance encounter while stopping to pick up her kid brother Booboo, and Delphine becomes curious about an artist, who painted a portrait that looks strikingly like her. All of these events reach their apex on the Sunday of the big performance and in need of some performers, the Carnies enlist the help of the twins. They are a huge success and things wind down.

The next morning the performers get ready to leave for Paris, and the girls decide to follow suit. However, Solange has another encounter that changes her plans, and then Yvonne is reunited with her love. That leaves only Delphine to go with the boys to Paris, but not to worry. She would be united with her love soon enough.

The singing is an integral part of this film, and sometimes there seems to be so much that it gets tiresome. However, the light and very French-sounding tunes are hard not to like. Demy pays homage to the Hollywood musicals of old going so far as casting Gene Kelly in his film. The film takes place in a real location, but it truly is a fantasy world that the characters inhabit, full of perpetual dancing and most of the talking comes out in song. The real-life sisters do a wonderful job in this film, and most of the characters are pleasant in this comedic musical of renewed and new found love.

4.5/5 Stars

The Last Metro (1980)

Posted on February 9, 2014 by 4 Star Films

Directed by Francois Truffaut and starring Catherine Denueve and Gerard Depardieu, the film opens with the very French-sounding love song “Mon amant de Sant Jean” playing over the credits. We find ourselves in occupied France during WWII where a little theater is struggling to stay open. The famed Jewish director Lucas Steiner has been forced to flee from the Nazis although in reality he is actually hiding in the cellar of the theater. In his absence his wife Marion has taken up his role of running the theater while also continuing to act. Early on we are introduced to the young actor Bernard who is chosen to play one of the new roles in the upcoming production. At the same time Marion must try and acquire the permit to stay open from a man whom she despises, the art critic Daxiat, who has anti-Semitic beliefs. They do stay open however, and with the director’s notes of Lucas they prepare their show and open to great success. Many of the French come to their shows as an escape before they take the Last Metro home. However, at their performance Daxiat gives them a harsh review and it angers Bernard. His actions ultimately jeopardize the theater and as a result his relations with Marion become strained. As if that were not enough some Gestapo come to the theater searching for Lucas and they must rush to hide him. Needless to say the film ends on a positive note but the film is not so much about resistance against the Nazis compared to the struggles of a theater to survive. Denueve gives a moving performance and although this is not Truffaut’s best, it is admirable. As the audience, not only do we watch a movie, but we watch the play within the movie and then the drama behind the play, so Truffaut takes us a little deeper.

4/5 Stars