J-26 Review of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)

A film with a unique style that grows on you

[7/10 · 31 October 2008]

This film is not only a one-off in cinema terms, it is in terms of any art form. It is not in the style of a usual musical or even an opera. While all the dialogue is sung as recitative as in opera, it doesn't have the regular musical highlights that musicals and opera provide. There are a number of very distinctive musical themes - most of which have been recorded by other artistes with completely different words - but at no point do we get an intended show-stopper - and there's definitely no dancing! So a first viewing can be a complete culture shock. I almost didn't persevere past the first ten minutes, but, if nothing else, the presence of Catherine Deneuve (whom I would watch singing the Paris phone book) persuaded me to continue. I did start to get the measure of things, but had it not been for the dramatic, sad, and possibly ambiguous last few minutes I'm not sure I would have returned to the film again. I did however do so, again taking a while to adjust to the 'rules' but getting increasingly involved again as it moved to the the conclusion. It was only on a third viewing after a break of several years and being ready for it that I fully enjoyed the whole enterprise - the bright colours, the town of Cherbourg which I know from a long time ago, Catherine Deneuve (I may have mentioned her already), the music with its restrained orchestration, the plot, and that ending.