The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

How does one describe Jacques Demy's The Umbrellas of Cherbourg? It's more than a simple musical, much more than that. (It is Demy after all.) But it's more than the typical fare the likes of MGM churned out at the time. But how?

The film follows the young love between Geneviève (Catherine Deneuve) and Guy (Nino Castelnuovo), stalled because of him being drafted. He leaves her alone and pregnant, yearning for him to return to her. But will this long-distance relationship survive?

Being the second of a sort of trilogy (the other films being Lola and The Young Girls of Rochefort), The Umbrellas of Cherbourg establishes Demy's standing in the world of film. In contrast to the films made by his wife Agnès Varda, his works more often than not are romanticized visions of reality. (Compare Lola with Cléo from 5 to 7.)

In a way, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is a low-scale opera. (All of the dialogue is sung.) There's that tone -- pardon the pun -- of melodrama throughout, yes, but that's the point. It's supposed to be morose amid the various pastels. (What, you never heard of the concept of dissonance?)

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg shows how one's aspirations and dreams don't often come to fruition. Sometimes you have to make sacrifices for your life to move forward, even if you don't want to. But as time wears on, you'll realize you've made a wise decision. (No one ever said or expected life to be fair to them from beginning to end.)

My Rating: ****1/2

Lola

With the French New Wave, there was an emergence in promising directors. Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, Claude Chabrol, Eric Rohmer, Jacques Rivette...they were the key figures in making the movement come to be. But there are a few other names from that time in cinema that tend to get overlooked.

One such name was Jacques Demy. Now his films like The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and The Young Girls of Rochefort are well-known to the film community (as well as his marriage to Agnès Varda) but his smaller, non-musical films tend to get overlooked. Such is the case with his debut Lola.

Much like Varda's Cleo from 5 to 7 the following year, there's more to Lola than it lets on. It's not just about the titular cabaret singer (Anouk Aimée); it's about a small group of in Nantes, their lives intersecting for only a fleeting moment.

Interestingly, Demy had intended for Lola to be a musical but didn't have a budget for it. (It leaves one wondering what this would've been like as a full-fledged musical.) But does this detail hinder the film's quality? Of course not.

Lola was one of several examples to prove that a new film movement was underway but all these years later, it seems to have gotten lost amid the mix of The 400 Blows and Breathless. Demy also showed that he was a promising director for the world of cinema to keep an eye on. (Also expect more reviews of his films here.)

My Rating: *****