THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG

Review: A beautiful young Frenchwoman Genevieve works in a small-town boutique selling umbrellas. She falls for a dashing mechanic Guy but their brief romance is interrupted once he goes to serve in the Algerian War. Just before he has to go to war he gets her pregnant. While he is serving in the war she faces a life-altering decision by marrying an older businessman Roland.
Director: Jacques Demy
Actors: Catherine Deneuve, Nino Castelnuovo, Anne Vernon, Marc Michel and Mireille Perrey
Year: 1964
Genre: Drama, Musical and Romance
Conclusion: 4/5
I have to say that I loved this film. This is a film where the whole dialogue is sung. This is a throwback to the Hollywood musicals of the late 1920s. Apparently, the umbrella shop still exists today at 13 Rue De Port, Cherbourg and is marked with a plaque commemorating the film. This is a favourite film of writer/director Damien Chazelle and he also cites this film as a principal source of inspiration for his Oscar-winning La La Land (2016). In a ‘Film Techniques and Aesthetics’ book it states that “Jacques Demy uses fluid camera movement and long takes that preserve the unity of time, space, and emotional momentum”. The themes in this are about success and hardship and also love and heartbreak. I have just watched this at my local film club and it is a film you can still enjoy watching in the 21st Century