Cyrano de Bergerac
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Movie Reviews of Cyrano de Bergerac
Movie Review: GREAT Movie!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I love this movie I recommended to any one to watch, it's a great love story!Movie Review: My Appolgies Gerard Depardieau
Summary: 4 Stars
I have been a avid viewer of movies nominated for the Best Foreign Language Oscar. They are generally a treasure chest of little-known but excellent and near-excellent films. On the list for 1990 is "Cyrano de Bergerac" and I was tempted to skip this entry for several reasons. First of all, I had seen the Jose Ferrer version and, to be honest, I don't recall a thing about that movie except that I thought it was rather boring. Secondly, this film runs about two and a half hours which sounded to me like an additional 30 minutes of boredom. Finally, I didn't care for the actor in the leading role; Gerard Depardieau. Mind you, I've seen him in a number of other Oscar-nominated foreign language films but I always felt that the movies he was in were good despite him rather than because of him. He's a big hulking guy that seems to stumble in many ways. I now have changed my mind about Gerard because he was excellent in the role of the title character in "Cyrano de Bergerac".
Everything in "Cyrano de Bergerac" seems to have been done on a higher scale than most costume dramas. The sets were outstanding along with the costumes, the direction and the acting. I watched in fascination as I, for once, realized the magnitude of the play by Edmond Rostand. Heck, reading the play (which I now intend to do) may come across as a let-down after seeing this movie version. It has just about everything and the director, Jean-Paul Rappeneau, let's it all happen on a majestic scale. The battle scenes were especially impressive and I got the impression that great research was done to show the life and customs of the era. However, despite all these accolades, my top kudos go to Gerard Depardieau whose performance truly enhanced the quality of the film. His bombastic nature was perfectly suited for the title role (or is it that Cyrano de Bergerac was perfectly suited for Gerard Depardieau?). He may not be the greatest actor but he certainly is the greatest Cyrano de Bergerac.
Movie Review: Tour-de-Depardieu
Summary: 4 Stars
The last word in "Cyrano de Bergerac" is "panache." It's a single-word summation of all that came before. Cyrano -- like Falstaff, Captain Ahab or Robin Hood -- is a literary character turned worldwide phenomenon. He is the big-nosed, swashbuckling poet who embodies "panache," and has captured the hearts and imaginations of audiences everywhere. The name "Cyrano" conjures more than a Pinnochio nose and a floppy, feathery hat. Cyrano is synonymous with valor and bold romanticism: a brilliant, outsized soul, and selfless in his unrequited love for the beautiful but unapproachable Roxane.
He is, in short, the great Romantic hero: individualistic, poetical, brave -- but also tragic, lonely, misunderstood. His "deformity" has made him bitterly self-conscious, sensitive to insult, but also a man set-apart, the envy and enemy of many. He battles a hundred men, throws away a year's pay in one grand gesture, and composes sonnets while matching swords with dim-witted aristocrats. Talk about panache.
Who else could play this character but Gerard Depardieu? With his hulking frame and pudgy potato face, Depardieu's looks are hardly of the marquee-idol variety. But what charisma! Whether playing Danton or Rodin or Cyrano or the Count of Monte Cristo, Depardieu invests his roles with passion, personality, and, yes, panache. Listening to him speak Rostand's lines is like hearing John Gielgud intone Shakespeare: an aesthetic experience unto itself.
Rostand, who clearly loved Shakespeare, did not possess Shakespeare's poetic or dramatic gifts (that said: who does or did?), but he had enough talent to transform the legendary Hercule-Savinien De Cyrano de Bergerac into an indelible icon of the stage and screen. For such a famous part, Depardieu comes as close to giving a definitive performance as possible, and we are the beneficiaries of his, Rostand's, and Cyrano's irrepressible panache.
Movie Review: The definitve version of the Edmond Rostand play.
Summary: 4 Stars
Cyrano De Bergerac has been performed countless times on film and stage, but no actor brings the character to life more so than Gerard Depardieu. All the things I loved about the play since I read it in junior high, have been transformed into movie magic. Cyrano is a heroic tale of a man who has been cursed with a large nose, but blessed with the wit and sensitivity of a poet. More importantly though, its a love story. A story about a 17th century Gascony cadet, who cherishes words and wit, excells to be the best at everything, and strikes fear into the hearts of men who dare stare at his nose. He is in love with his cousin Roxanne, who to has a great love for words and wit. However, she is in love with another cadet named Christian, who is handsome, also in love with Roxanne, yet tongue-tied. Cyrano, feeling fate is against him, decides to help Christian become a mighty hero of romance. With Cyrano's words Roxanne falls deeper in love with Christian. So in love that she forgets how handsome he is and now loves him for his soul. Cyrano, knowing this, and Christian also knowing that Cyrano is madly in love with Roxanne, decides to tell all to Roxanne. But again fate denies Cyrano the chance, for Christian dies during a siege by the Spanish army. With Christian dead how can Roxanne believe Cyrano? Roxanne goes into mouring and not until 14 years later, she finally realizes that it was Cyrano's words and soul that captivated her. She passionatley confesses her love to him, but alas fate mocks Cyrano again for death is but a moment away. The film is acted with such grace, that you feel the characters words in your heart. Filmed in beautifull 17th century French settings with great attention to detail and a score that would make John Williams envy. Its easy to see why this version is the definitive version of the famous play. It would be a 5 star DVD if it were not for the lack of special features.Movie Review: One of the great romance stories...
Summary: 4 Stars
I was excited to see this as the original classic with Jose Ferrer remains one of my all-time favorite films. This one is brilliantly made, and Depardieu does not disappoint.
This film was produced well, and the sets are beautiful. The acting is also very good, and the actors are well chosen for their parts. The female lead is perfect as she is a stunning beauty with the kind of beauty that grows on you the more you see. I imagine that she is the type that would completely bewitch someone as Cyrano was.
The story itself is well known. An brilliant "deformed" man in love and a beautiful "idiotic" man in love combine their talents to woo a beautiful woman. Unfortunately, the end result is tragic for every party, but this is an undeniably romantic story that can start your heart racing at times. It feels almost like one of Shakespeare's great tragedies, and I don't know that it is an exxageration to suggest it is almost as brilliant.
The reason that I give this magnificent story only four stars is because some of the impact of this story was lost on me due to the subtitles. I really don't have a problem with movies that have subtitles, but with this particular story it hurt the impact for English-speaking people. Cyrano was a great poet, and one aspect of the story that touches the viewer is the poetry. Unfortunately, when you are hearing French words at a mile a minute and seeing english rhymes on the screen, it just isn't very poetic. I'm sure for the French this is an absolute masterpiece, and I truly wish I could feel the same about it myself.
Overall, I am thrilled to see this, and I would watch it again. Just be warned--if you, like me, find the poetry to be one of the great aspects, you may be slightly disappointed. The poetry is still there and is still beautiful, but you have to work to get at it.