Roy Hart
If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.
Phillipa
Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.
Staci Frederick
Blistering performances.
bigverybadtom
The teenage daughter of a woman running a financially-troubled umbrella shop in Cherbourg conflicts with her mother. The slightly older boy working as an auto mechanic at a garage is living with his elderly and sickly godmother, who has a young woman come in occasionally to take care of her, has conflicts of his own. He and the daughter meet and fall in love...but as expected, the boy gets drafted and has to serve in the military for two years with war in Algeria going on. They must separate, but will the romance last? Especially with the daughter unexpectedly pregnant and a rich man also desiring to marry the daughter? The movie has its dialogue entirely sung, and the sets are in very bright colors. Despite this, the characters and their interactions are all believable, and the story line, though not entirely predictable, does follow a logical path. The movie is basically a confection, but it works.
Hitchcoc
This film rises above the novelty of all the dialogue being sung. Not operatic, just sung. This is the sad story of two people who are driven apart by circumstances. The result of one night is a child. Forces beyond their control get in the way and they must take other directions. This has some of the most beautiful scenes in it. It is the true love story without a lot of contrivances and the haunting factor of the beautiful interaction of the two leads later in life. Catherine Deneuve is startlingly beautiful and she dominates the screen whenever she is on it. Gorgeous. Lovely landscapes in the French countryside. A feast for the senses.
armadiddle
I first happened on this exquisite jewel of a movie several years ago after my teenage son told me he'd watched an unusually poignant episode of Futurama featuring a song called "I Will Wait For You". Intrigued, i did some research and found that it was written by Michel Legrand and Jacques Demy and was from a cult French musical movie called The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, in which every word of dialogue was sung. This i had to see, so I ordered it up on DVD. From the minute i first started watching it i was entranced, and i still am today. My son watched it with me, and so was he. This unique film is almost beyond criticism. I don't agree with the often levelled objection that the central theme is slight. The pain of young love, and the dawning realisation of how the world really works, these are things of universal importance. I love the way the movie raises so many questions that could have so many different answers. Did Genevieve ever really love Guy? Did she/will she ever really get over him? Did he/will he ever really get over her? I love the way it creates the drama using believable characters who in their own ways, despite the mistakes they make, are all actually rather likable. The use of colour and attention to detail are amazing, the music striking and memorable, and the English subtitles are terrific. A lot of films are let down by their subtitles, but these are literate, witty and often quite subtle. (At least they are in one of the two versions I've come across. The other, which from its reference to gasoline rather than petrol I assume to be American in origin, is considerably inferior.)For all those reasons i would already have considered it my favourite movie ever, even before i recently and belatedly bought on DVD Demy's earlier film Lola. Watching that movie has brought a whole new dimension to Umbrellas. It features one of the characters in Umbrellas, Roland Cassard, and his love for a dancer, which is recapped briefly in the later film. We learn how although Lola has a good heart and cares for Roland, she can't return his love because her heart belongs to another man, Michel, the father of her child, who left seven years before and has never come back. She has never quite given up hoping that he will, but tells Roland she plans to go away for a couple of months to think about things, implying that there may be a chance for them when they meet again. Roland meanwhile is himself about to go abroad on business, so will also have a chance to put his thoughts in order. The situation is further complicated by Roland's friendship, mirroring what happens in Umbrellas, with an attractive widow who is obviously interested in Roland and has a precocious teenage daughter (though this one is 14 rather than 16).Lola the movie ends with Roland about to leave for Johannesburg, unaware that Michel has just returned unexpectedly and Lola has committed her future to him. Roland has spent most of his life up till now in his home city of Nantes drifting through a series of unsuitable jobs, and in desperation has agreed to a decidedly dodgy assignment involving the smuggling of diamonds. When we next see him a few years later in Cherbourg, 200 miles from Nantes, he's a rich and successful businessman in the jewellery trade who's always away on mysterious business trips. So what is he doing in Cherbourg? Has it got anything to do with the fact that the widow's daughter Cecile went there when she ran away from home? Was he bitter when he found out about Lola and Michel and how did it alter his view of the world? Is his wealth based on the proceeds from smuggling, and if so is Genevieve at any time aware of this? Why can't Roland aspire to anything more than a marriage of convenience? What's the real significance of the parallel between the two widows and their daughters? Could Umbrellas possibly have a darker subtext than is commonly suspected? You could keep returning to these questions again and again over the course of a lifetime, and that, more than anything else, is why i like this movie so much.
evening1
A film like this makes me think of my own life choices.It starts out like a painting that comes to life, set in the ancient port town of Cherbourg. (I was surprised to read on Wikipedia that a U.S. Civil War battle was fought off its shores.)From the cobblestone streets to the jewel-box storefronts to the grease monkeys at Guy's garage, this film is a joy to behold. And with Michel LeGrand's score, a delight to listen to. As a Francophile, I wish I could find a copy of its script. I enjoyed the crisp simplicity of the entirely sung dialogue.Adding to the satisfying unity of "Parapluies" is its perfect casting.Catherine Deneuve convinces as a rebellious daughter, infatuated teen, and bemused unwed woman with child. Her own mother, played fascinatingly by Anne Vernon, probably experienced the same type of out-of-wedlock pregnancy as her daughter does. Clearly, Mme. Emery is attracted to M. Cassard, yet her sole conscious wish is for the security of her only child. The mother-daughter relationship here is one of almost-total miscomprehension. Cassard (a dapper Marc Michel) is interesting to watch as the wealthy, somewhat bloodless suitor who actually travels with a crown, ready-made, to place on his lady love's head!Nino Castelnuovo is superb as Guy, along with Ellen Farner as Madeleine. I enjoyed the range that Castelnuovo demonstrated, going from carefree lover to ready-to-serve draftee, to depressed and acting-out Algerian War vet. The conversation between Guy and Madeleine, prior to marriage, is one of stunningly convincing depth, though its words are few.Of course, the final scene of this film is unforgettable. I've seen "Parapluies" no fewer than five times and this viewing I cried perhaps more than ever, due to evermore bittersweet experience of my own under my belt. Its tunes and melodies soothe and inspire!
