The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)

Genres - Drama, Romance, Music, Musical  |   Sub-Genres - Musical Romance, Melodrama  |   Run Time - 120 min.  |   Countries - Germany, France  |   MPAA Rating - NR
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Synopsis by Jason Ankeny

Jacques Demy's 1964 masterpiece is a pop-art opera, or, to borrow the director's own description, a film in song. This simple romantic tragedy begins in 1957. Guy Foucher (Nino Castelnuovo), a 20-year-old French auto mechanic, has fallen in love with 17-year-old Geneviève Emery (a luminous Catherine Deneuve), an employee in her widowed mother's chic but financially embattled umbrella shop. On the evening before Guy is to leave for a two-year tour of combat in Algeria, he and Geneviève make love. She becomes pregnant and must choose between waiting for Guy's return or accepting an offer of marriage from a wealthy diamond merchant (Marc Michel, reprising his role from Demy's masterful debut, Lola). A completely sung movie, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is closest in form to a cinematic opera. Composer Michel Legrand composed the score, modeling it around the patterns of everyday conversation. Umbrellas was re-released in 1997.

Characteristics

Keywords

marriage-of-convenience, pregnancy, romance, star-crossed-lovers, love, military-draft, umbrella, France, jeweler, pearl, gas-station

Attributes

High Artistic Quality, High Historical Importance, High Production Values