Cyrano de Bergerac

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Matthew B @RT07450941 08/17/2023 Rostand's play poses a challenge for a moviemaker. The script is very literate, but how to capture this on screen? Thankfully this movie benefitted from a translation by Anthony Burgess, which sought to maintain the verse, complete with 5-beat rhythm and rhyming, except in the final scene which is performed in blank verse to allow more fluidity. This greatly adds to the pleasure of the movie, although it is sometimes hard to follow the action and enjoy the visual spectacle whilst also savouring the verse. This is especially true in an early fight scene where Cyrano fights a duel while spouting verses, and a series of clever self-deprecating insults about his nose. There is so much to enjoy on the screen at one time that there is a danger of missing something wonderful. Rappeneau's adaptation is perfectly pitched. It is fun to watch and has much witty interplay, but it is treated with enough seriousness to allow the audience to care for the characters. The film is lively, and contains plenty of movement, helped by an energetic performance from Depardieu. The story contains no flashbacks, adding to its sense of immediacy. Other incidental details add to the colour – the dignified music score with its martial theme, and the detailed period settings – candle chandeliers, pickpockets, bewigged intellectuals etc. There is a pathos in Cyrano's life, but though the film ends sadly it is not depressing. While I would not wish to emulate Cyrano's life, I still cannot help feeling that it would be somehow admirable to be like him, and I would not wish him otherwise. His refusal to compromise and his unselfish love make him a true hero. As Cyrano says at the end when he learns of Moliere's plagiarism, "My life's work has been to prompt others". He may be absurdly impractical or even impossible, but perhaps there is a germ of Cyrano in all of us – a feeling of being passed by, and a longing to meet life on our own terms without bending. I wrote a longer appreciation of Cyrano de Bergerac on my blog page i you would like to read more: https://themoviescreenscene.wordpress.com/2018/08/24/cyrano-de-bergerac-1990/ See more Taylor L @RT77267842 12/06/2022 Some aspects of Cyrano haven't quite aged well. I'm thinking about having an infatuation with your cousin, and the fact that nose surgery is something that teenage girls now have access to. Apart from that, it's still a classic story of unfulfilled longing, a romance with a poetic style. As the film that brought Gérard Depardieu into Hollywood, it's not difficult to see the capability he brings to the role that's necessary to sell the eloquence and tragedy of the character; in the hands of a lesser actor, the delicate emotional sensitivity and wry wit of our self-loathing and tragicomic hero would not be nearly so well-realized. With a great level of attention to detail from the fake nose that "precedes him into a room by fifteen minutes" to the exceptional set design that brings the plot to life better than any adaptation had before (or since, sorry Peter Dinklage), this 1990 film brought poetry to film in a way that seemed impossible. As long as you can withstand a rather protracted series of death throes with a lot more stumbling and speeches than you would think a man with a fatal head injury could withstand, this 1990 Jean-Paul Rappeneau version remains the definitive take on Cyrano de Bergerac. (3.5/5) See more Tony S @RT94004908 07/03/2022 A supposed definitive movie adaptation of Cyrano, at least by French consensus. In spite of never reading or watching the play, I tend to agree. This is an incredible, fictionalized character study of a real person. So, by all means, a French Shakespeare story. And it tells a very relatable story about the insecurity of a man whose wit, mind, and prowess are unrivaled but whose appearance makes him shudder at the prospect of inevitable rejection by another sex. A theme that is so universal that there is hardly anyone who won't connect with it. A debate about what is more important: physical or spiritual intimacy.  Combined with the other characters and their emotional duality, by the end you find out that there are no evil people in the central conflict. And everything is motivated by emotions such as jealousy and love. The powerful ending of Cyrano, lamenting the life he wasted on pitiful self-doubt that left him with nothing but his panache, will stick with you partially thanks to a whimsical and melancholic soundtrack. The movie looks great; you can see the budget in every set and scene. See more Leaburn O @RT35452347 03/24/2021 Ah yes a fantastic Gallic twist of a Shakespeare in Love type play. Witty, romantic, engaging, tragic and brilliant. Well worth a watch. See more steve d @RT35616104 07/10/2020 Fine version of the often told tale. See more 08/23/2019 The finest translation of the French play, ever. Hands down. See more Read all reviews

Cyrano de Bergerac

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