The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964). A
I just found out HBOMax has a bunch of top-tier international films available, which is good news for me as it allows me the opportunity to take myself to school and catch up on some classics.
Umbrellas of Cherbourg is a damn fun viewing experience. While the plot and proceedings are fairly standard stuff, the film is both visually and aurally a scrumptious treat to take in. The art direction is exquisite, and Legrand's score even moreso: these are the real stars of the film, and they serve to elevate what would be fairly rudimentary (though in some cases, surprisingly funny) dialogue into something special and unique, especially in cases where the music doesn't quite match the mood you'd typically apply to the content of the dialogue, a juxtaposition I will almost always have time for.
The singing is uniformly excellent, as dialogue-through-song is no easy feat to deliver well (I in particular enjoyed the voices for Madame Emery and Roland Cassard). The music, combined with the lithe delivery of the singers (as well as the beauty of the French language), creates an effect in which the words themselves almost threaten to fly away offscreen they float so effortlessly.
Back to that lush score. Although the main "lover's theme" was laid on a bit too thick for my tastes (I even may have exclaimed out-loud "another key change?!" at one point) make no mistake, this is ear-candy of the highest order, equal parts innocent, enchanting, and mysterious. I particularly enjoyed the use of music to inform signature character cues. For example, when Roland first introduces himself, he says his name in a simple ascending-descending chromatic progression. This progression often works itself back into the music whenever Roland is onscreen. So, later in the film when transition music between scenes employed an ascending chromaticism, I thought to myself "Ah, I guess we're about to see Roland!" and sure enough to my delight, there he was in the next scene.
While not exactly revolutionary, I still very much appreciated the use of blue and pink colors to indicate whether or not a principle character was "in the mood for love," for lack of a less derivative phrase. This was usually illustrated through shirts. The blast of colors throughout the film ensured that this technique blended in quite nicely, and as such, was subtle enough never to feel heavy-handed, and we are rewarded with a great payoff at the end.
While Umbrellas of Cherbourg may not be an all-time great film, it's not too far off either, and I'm hard-pressed to think of many more entertaining ways you could spend 90 minutes.
Sidenote: in looking through the film credits, I was surprised to see Demy's first feature film, Lola, also starred the same actor who played Roland Cassard in this film, playing who else, but Roland Cassard! So it dawned on me that film must be the full, fleshed-out backstory that Roland gives when asked about himself in Umbrellas. Though the DCU (Demy Cinematic Universe) may only span two films, this is now one I feel compelled to watch when the opportunity to stream it is available, and I'm left wondering if there are any other instances in classic film where a director has brought back the same character in films which (that particular character aside) have no relation to each other.
