Before Barbie or La La Land, there was The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

Also, Park Chan-wook's Oldboy is in theaters and you should run, not walk, to catch it on the big screen.

Hello!

My name is Elvire, and welcome to my space where I ramble about movies once a week. I spend countless hours watching movies, and even more hours searching for a movie to watch. We’re overwhelmed by choice, by platforms, by television. So perhaps, this can help you save time, and you might even discover something you’ve never seen before.

Music travels

Sometimes, there are these great moments when you hear a song and you instantly recognize the sample, or you watch a movie, and you already love the song they chose, and you feel like you’ve been let it on a secret. You get it. This occurred a few years ago when I listened to Frank Sinatra’s crooner classic I Will Wait For You. I knew I had heard it before, in a different way, a different version.

This song came out in 1966, but just a couple years earlier, its original version made its debut in one of the most delightful films ever made: Jacques Demy’s Les Parapluies de Cherbourg (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, 1964). The film’s version - much slower, and much more harrowing - is the centerpiece of the love story between Catherine Deneuve and Nino Castelnuovo’s epic on-screen couple Genevieve and Guy.

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival that year, and went on to be nominated for 5 Academy Awards. Some of its songs, composed by master Michel Legrand, became so popular that they were given English-language lyrics and sung by the most talented and celebrated singers of the times. “Devant le garage” became “I Will Wait For You”, and “Recit de Cassard” became “Watch What Happens” (popularized by Tony Bennett).

There is so much I could say about the genius that was Michel Legrand - but I believe he deserves his own post. Stay tuned.

Dubbed?!

Growing up, I wanted to be Catherine Deneuve in all the Jacques Demy films - mainly in The Young Girls of Rochefort or Donkey Skin - but my older self realizes that she has never been so magnetic and raw as she is in this one. In all these films, director Jacques Demy collaborated with composer Michel Legrand - and together they are responsible for the arrival of the musical in France, heavily inspired by the dubbed Hollywood musicals like Singin’ in the Rain (is anything not inspired by Singin’ in the rain? I’m not sure. See Babylon).

So the film is dubbed, yes - not only is one of the main characters, Guy, played by an Italian actor who spoke maybe two words of French, but it is also completely sung. From start to finish. There is not one line of dialogue that is not in song. I’m aware that might put you off, but I urge you to give it a chance, regardless. And I know, judging from my last newsletter, you might think I’d be appalled by a fully dubbed film - but in this case, it’s absolutely wonderful and magical and escapist and true. To the lucky few who have not yet seen this masterpiece, I envy you as you get to discover it for the first time.

The colors of Cherbourg

Pay special attention to the use of color when you watch it. True, it will be hard to miss as it is completely undeniable in every frame. Take a look below at the brilliant craft, dressed by Production Designer Bernard Evein (Francois Truffaut’s 400 Blows, Agnes Varda’s Cleo from 5 to 7) and shot by DP Jean Rabier (main collaborator of Claude Chabrol).

Above, you can glimpse at the juxtaposition of mirrors and colors, very often used in scenes of conflict. And the many colors, from the floral wallpapers to the costume design, are layered in such ways that do not feel overwhelming, quite the contrary - they brighten each other even more. Below, you can see this being taken to another level completely, with characters completely blending into the backgrounds, in order to direct your eye to a particular point of the frame.

Greta Gerwig mentioned that Demy’s films were huge inspirations for Barbie in terms of overlaying shades of pink to make them pop rather than clash. And Damien Chazelle often talks of Umbrellas as a main reference point for La La Land (think: story, structure, colors).

I could show you every single still from this film, and dissect it. Every frame is a painting in and of itself. But I’d rather you discover its beauty and its grace on your own. And if you’d like to go a step further, I would recommend Demy’s other singing masterpiece The Young Girls of Rochefort (this time, they dance and there is Gene Kelly, so get ready).

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is streaming on Max.

If that’s not for you…

Then perhaps Park Chan-wook’s classic revenge thriller Oldbody is more up your alley. That’s in theaters now, thanks to Neon, for its 20th anniversary. And it’s very cool too…

…Just a little more fucked up.

“I guess I’ll see you in the movies.”