Les parapluies de Cherbourg (1964)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Jacques Demy

Writer:

Jacques Demy (scenario and dialogue)

Release Date:

16 December 1964 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Musical | Romance

Tagline:

FOR ALL THE YOUNG LOVERS OF THE WIDE, WIDE WORLD...

Plot:

Geneviève, 17, lives with her widowed mother, who owns an umbrella shop in Cherbourg. She and Guy, a twenty-year-old auto mechanic...

Plot Keywords:

Aunt | Marriage | Mechanic | Umbrella | Teenage Girl

Awards:

Nominated for 5 Oscars. Another 5 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Catherine Deneuve	...	Geneviève Emery
Nino Castelnuovo	...	Guy Foucher
Anne Vernon	...	Madame Emery
Marc Michel	...	Roland Cassard
Ellen Farner	...	Madeleine
Mireille Perrey	...	Aunt Élise
Jean Champion	...	Aubin (as J. Champion)
Pierre Caden	...	Bernard (as P. Caden)
Jean-Pierre Dorat	...	Jean (as J.P. Dorat)
Bernard Fradet	...	Gas Station Apprentice (as B. Fradet)
Michel Benoist	...	Umbrella Buyer (as M. Benoist)
Philippe Dumat	...	Garage Customer in 1957 (as P. Dumat)
Dorothée Blank	...	Girl in Cafe (as D. Blank)
Jane Carat	...	Ginny (as J. Carat)
Harald Wolff	...	Monsieur Dubourg
Danielle Licari	...	Geneviève Emery (singing voice) (as D. Licari)
José Bartel	...	Guy Foucher (singing voice) (as J. Bartel)
Christiane Legrand	...	Madame Emery (singing voice) (as C. Legrand)
Georges Blaness	...	Roland Cassard (singing voice) (as G. Blanes)
Claudine Meunier	...	Madeleine (singing voice) (as C. Meunier)
Claire Leclerc	...	Aunt Élise (singing voice) (as C. Leclerc)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Patrick Bricard	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Jacques Camelinat	...	Garage Customer in 1959 (uncredited)
François Charet	...	Mechanic in 1959 (uncredited)
Jean-Pierre Chizat	...	Pierre - Mechanic (uncredited)
Jacques Demy	...	Le client égaré / Le serveur (singing voice) (uncredited)
Bernard Garnier	...	Mechanic in 1959 (uncredited)
Gisèle Grandpré	...	Madame Germaine (uncredited)
Hervé Legrand	...	Francois Foucher (uncredited)
Michel Legrand	...	Jean (singing voice) (uncredited)
Myriam Michelson	...	Girl in Cafe (uncredited)
Paul Pavel	...	First Removal Man (uncredited)
Roger Perrinoz	...	Cafe Owner (uncredited)
Rosalie Varda	...	Françoise Cassard (uncredited)

Directed by
Jacques Demy

Writing credits
Jacques Demy		(scenario and dialogue)

Produced by
Mag Bodard	....	producer

Original Music by
Michel Legrand

Cinematography by
Jean Rabier

Film Editing by
Anne-Marie Cotret		(as A.M. Cotret)
Monique Teisseire		(as M. Teisseire)

Production Design by
Bernard Evein

Costume Design by
Jacqueline Moreau		(as J. Moreau)

Makeup Department
Christine Fornelli	....	makeup artist (as C. Fornelli)

Production Management
Philippe Dussart	....	production manager
Maurice Urbain	....	unit manager (as M. Urbain)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
André Flédérick	....	second assistant director (as A. Flederick)
Klaus Müller-Laue	....	assistant director (as K. Muller-Laue)
Jean-Paul Savignac	....	assistant director (as J.P. Savignac)

Art Department
Maurice Bourbotte	....	upholsterer (uncredited)
Joseph Gerhard	....	props (uncredited)
Claude Pignot	....	assistant set decorator (uncredited)

Sound Department
François Musy	....	stereo sound consultant: Dolby (1992 remastered version)

Camera and Electrical Department
Jean-Paul Lemaître	....	camera operator (as J.P. Lemaitre)
Leo Weisse	....	still photographer (as L. Weisse)
Pierre Willemin	....	camera operator (as P. Willemin)
Roger Delattre	....	chief electrician (uncredited)
Bernard Largemain	....	key grip (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Real	....	dresses: Catherine Deneuve
Agnès Soulet	....	costumer (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Gisèle Chézeau	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Michel Legrand	....	conductor
Michel Legrand	....	music publisher
Michel Legrand	....	musical director
Francis Lemarque	....	music publisher

Other crew
Annie Maurel	....	script (as A. Maurel)
Charles Chieusse	....	location manager (uncredited)
Jeanne Marie Olivier	....	production secretary (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Parc Film
• Madeleine Films
• Beta Film

Distributors

• A-Film Home Entertainment (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Ciné Tamaris (1992) (France) (theatrical) (Dolby remix version)
• Criterion Collection, The (USA) (VHS)
• Criterion Collection, The (USA) (laserdisc)
• Cult Filmes (Brazil) (VHS)
• Divisa Home Video (2006) (Spain) (DVD)
• Editora Jornal do Vídeo (Brazil) (DVD)
• Koch Lorber Films (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Landau Releasing Organization (LRO) (1964) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Versátil Home Vídeo (2002) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Wellspring Media (USA) (DVD)
• Zeitgeist Films (1996) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release) (subtitled)

Other Companies

• Carita  hair styling

Also Known As:

Die Regenschirme von Cherbourg (West Germany)
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (USA)
Cherbourgin sateenvarjot (Finland) [fi]
Els paraigües de Cherbourg (Spain: Catalan title) [ca]
Los paraguas de Cherburgo (Spain) [es]
Os Chapéus de Chuva de Cherburgo (Portugal) [pt]
Os Guarda-Chuvas do Amor (Brazil) [pt]
Paraplyerna i Cherbourg (Finland: Swedish title) [sv]
Parsolki z Cherbourga (Poland) [pl]
Pigen med paraplyerne (Denmark) [da]

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

France | West Germany

Language:

French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR (restored version) (1992) | Mono

Certification:

UK:A (original rating) | UK:U (re-rating) (1997) | Singapore:PG | Netherlands:AL (re-rating) (2008) | South Korea:12 | Australia:PG | Chile:TE | Finland:S | France:U | Portugal:M/12 | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

Cherbourg, Manche, France

Company:

Parc Film

Trivia:

Was the first French musical in color.

Quotes:

Roland Cassard: We'll raise this child together. He'll be ours. Please accept, Genevieve. I don't want to upset you. I love you, Genevieve.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Trapped in the Closet: Chapters 13-22 (2007) (V)

Soundtrack:

I Will Wait For You

Bold Series of Uninterrupted Recitatives Constitute Demy's Brightly Colored But Sad Love Story

In 1964, filmmaker Jacques Demy made an audacious move by directing a deceptively simple love story completely in song. I would be hard pressed to call this movie a musical, opera or even an operetta since there are neither show-stopping production numbers nor soul-bearing arias on the soundtrack. Instead, we are presented everyday dialogue in a series of recitatives that bring a dramatic urgency to the most mundane of events. Why it works is that the story is not the happy-go-lucky romance one would suspect it will be from the bright colors of the production but rather a melancholy tale of love unfulfilled and the tenuousness of longing in the face of harsh realities. It is a Gallic version of "Romeo and Juliet" by way of William Inge's tale of teenage lust, "Splendor in the Grass" (in fact, Demy's ending bears a striking resemblance to the last scenes of Elia Kazan's film three years earlier).

The plot focuses on teen-aged star-crossed lovers Genevieve and Guy, who develop a relationship through clandestine meetings despite the disapproval of Genevieve's mother, who thinks a gas station mechanic is beneath her daughter. The lovers eventually consummate their relationship once Guy finds he has been drafted to serve for France during the Algerian conflict. With Guy away, Genevieve discovers she is pregnant and must decide whether to wait for Guy's uncertain return or marry the rich diamond dealer, Roland Cassard, her mother's preference given the failing business of her umbrella shop. The story develops in subtle strokes almost like a Yasujiro Ozu film in that there aren't really any melodramatic confrontation scenes but instead moments of revelation. The wondrous Catherine Deneuve, all of twenty, had her first important role as Genevieve, and it's no wonder her career seems assured from her ethereal performance. With his earthy good looks and open-hearted manner, Nino Castelnuovo complements Deneuve as Guy, and their romance is palpable even in an amusingly contrived shot where they are obviously on a conveyor belt moving down the street. Anne Vernon lends a robust presence as Genevieve's mother as she plots her daughter's fate, and Marc Michel is appropriately bland as Roland.

Along with the vibrant colors faithfully recaptured in a 1996 restoration, such artifices really add to the film's charm. However, just as essential is Michel Legrand's score with his swooning romanticism at its most cinematic (and a precursor to the music he composed for Barbra Streisand's 1983 "Yentl"), as it fills the dramatic arcs from start to finish. You will likely recognize the lounge standard melodies for the Americanized translations, "I Will Wait for You" and "Watch What Happens", as they are pervasive through the recitatives. I enjoyed the movie very much but realize this will not be everyone's cup of tea, especially those already alienated by the musical genre. One can see this as an even more exaggerated form, but you can probably tell by the first two minutes whether you will be enraptured by it. The DVD also includes an excerpt from Demy's widow Agnes Varda's illuminating 1995 documentary, "The World of Jacques Demy".