The Umbrellas of Cherbourg [Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray]

Director: Jacques Demy, Nino Castelnuovo

Overview

Though not as fresh and spontaneous as it once seemed to be, Jacques Demy's musical romance The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Les Paraplies de Cherbourg) remains an entertaining experiment--not to mention an ideal "first date" movie. Courtesy of lyricist Demy and composer Michel LeGrand, all dialogue is sung, not spoken, in this tale of Catherine Deneuve, the daughter of umbrella-shop owner Anne Vernon, and her involvement with handsome gas station attendant Nino Castelnuovo. In turn, Deneuve is coveted by wealthy Marc Michel, whom Vernon thinks is a better catch than Castelnuovo. Just before her beau is drafted to fight in Algeria, Deneuve decides to prove her love by losing her virginity to him. As the months pass, it appears as though Castelnuovo will never return; now pregnant, Deneuve reluctantly agrees to marry Michel (shades of Pagnol's Marseilles Trilogy). Meanwhile, Castelnuovo, hardened by his military experiences, returns to open his own gas station with money inherited from his aunt; he also marries Ellen Farmer, who has long carried a torch for him. Four years later, a chance meeting occurs between Deneuve and Castelnuovo. The reunion is bittersweet, concluding on a wistful note. The winner of the Cannes Film Festival Grand Prize Award, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg's most lasting legacy is its popular score, including the now-standard "I Will Wait For You" (English lyrics by Norman Gimbel).

Product Details

Release Date:	04/11/2017
UPC:	0715515196819
Original Release:	1964
Rating:	NR
Source:	THE CRITERION COLLECTION, INC
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:32:00
Sales rank:	3,877

Special Features

Once Upon a Time..."The Umbrellas of Cherbourg," a 2008 documentary; Interview from 2014 with film scholar Rodney Hill; French television interview from 1964 featuring director Jacques Demy and composer Michel Legrand discussing the film; Audio recordings of interviews with actor Catherine Deneuve; (1983) and Legrand (1991) at the National Film Theatre in London; Restoration demonstration; Trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Catherine Deneuve	Genevieve Emery
Nino Castelnuovo	Guy
Marc Michel	Roland Cassard
Ellen Farner	Madeleine
Anne Vernon	Madame Emery
Mireille Perrey	Aunt Elise
Jean Champion	Aubin
Pierre Caden	Actor
Jean-Pierre Dorat	Actor
Bernard Fradet	Actor
Michel Benoist	Actor
Philippe Dumat	Actor
Harald Wolff	Dubourg
Jane Carat	Actor
Jean-Paul Chizat	Actor
Patrick Bricard	Actor
Bernard Garnier	Actor
Francois Charet	Actor
Jacques Camelinat	Actor
Roger Perrinoz	Actor
Paul Pavel	Actor
Gisele Grandpre	Actor
Rosalie Varda	Francoise Cassard
Francois Foucher	Actor
Doroth?e Blank	Girl in Cafe
Herv? Legrand	Fran?ois Foucher,Composer
Ellen Farmer	Actor
Alfred Wolff	Actor
Dorothee Blanck	Actor
Jacques Demy	Composer

Technical Credits

Jacques Demy

Jacques Demy	Screenwriter
Mag Bodard	Producer
Gilbert de Goldschmidt	Producer
Pierre Lazareff	Producer
Fran?ois Musy	Sound Effects

Editorial Reviews

A visually intoxicating "film in music," Jacques Demy's Les Parapluies de Cherbourg (1964) pays homage to the Hollywood musical while undercutting the genre's candy-coated sentiment. Focusing on daily rituals and a typical story of young love and thwarted dreams, within an ultra-romantic riot of color and nonstop music and singing, Demy lifts the film above its mundane context while staying true to its unvarnished view of class divisions and youthful fantasy. With all the dialogue sung to Michel Legrand's score, from gas station business to the declaration of devotion between Catherine Deneuve and Nino Castelnuovo, and the polychromatic costumes coordinated to match production designer Bernard Evein's ornate wallpaper and newly-repainted Cherbourg locations, Demy creates the ultimate musical dream world. Yet that world is ruled by bourgeois prejudices that no adolescent romance can subvert, even on a snowy Christmas night. Winner of the Palme d'Or and Best Actress prizes at the Cannes Film Festival, Les Parapluies de Cherbourg became an international sensation, turning neophyte Deneuve into a star and garnering Oscar nominations for Demy's script, Legrand's score, and the transcendent ballad "I Will Wait for You." Badly faded by the 1970s, it was re-released and restored to its original brilliance in 1992, after years of effort by Demy, Deneuve, Legrand, and Demy's widow, Agnès Varda.