The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)

 ●  French ● 1 hr 31 mins

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Told in four acts, the lives of Geneviève Emery and Guy Foucher of Cherbourg France are presented. Act 1 begins in November 1957, when sixteen year old Geneviève, who works in her widowed mother's umbrella shop called "Les parapluies de Cherbourg", and twenty year old Guy, who works as a mechanic at a gas station, are madly in love and want to get married. They are reluctant to tell anyone not only of their want to get married, but of their relationship. Geneviève believes her mother will think her too young, and would want her to marry someone with better prospects, especially considering her own tenuous financial situation. And Guy is more concerned now about not abandoning his ailing godmother, Aunt Élise, who raised him, and who he looks after along with a young woman named Madeleine. Act 2, told largely from Geneviève's perspective, begins in February 1958. Guy, drafted to fight for the French in Algeria, has been gone for two months, and is expected to be gone for two years. Geneviève rarely hears from Guy. In order to solve their many problems, Geneviève's mother wants her to marry Roland Cassard, a refined and well appointed diamond merchant who travels often for his work but who is devoted to Geneviève whenever he is in Cherbourg. Geneviève, who still loves Guy but who she is slowly losing in terms of him as a person in her mind, has to decide what to do about Roland, especially as it may become more difficult to accept his proposal as time progresses. Act 3, told largely from Guy's perspective, begins in March 1959 upon his military discharge and return to Cherbourg. Life circumstances, including what happened during the war, has changed Guy, and he has to figure out what the next phase of his life will look like because of his new perspective. Act 4 takes place on one snowy day in December 1963, when Geneviève and Guy are shown in their current lives, that based on what has happened in those previous three acts.
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Cast: Catherine Deneuve, Nino Castelnuovo

Crew: Jacques Demy (Director), Jean Rabier (Director of Photography), Michel Legrand (Music Director)

Genres: Drama, Musical, Romance

Release Dates: 16 Dec 1964 (India), 19 Feb 1964 (France), 14 Feb 1969 (Mexico), 23 Sep 1981 (Spain), 24 Dec 1964 (United Kingdom), 16 Dec 1964 (United States)

Tagline: A Film for All The Young Lovers of the World.

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Did you know? Roland tells Genevieve's mother he once loved a woman named "Lola." "Lola" is a Demy film from 1961, in which Marc Michel plays the same character of Roland. Read More
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Film Type:
Feature
Language:
French
Spoken Languages:
French
Colour Info:
Color
Sound Mix:
Dolby SR, Mono
Frame Rate:
24 fps
Aspect Ratio:
1.85:1 (Flat), 2.35:1
Stereoscopy:
No
Taglines:
A Film for All The Young Lovers of the World.
For All The Young Lovers of the Wide, Wide World..
Trivia:
In the beginning, a black car rolls into the garage where Guy works, and Guy is asked to assist with the car's problems. This car is actually Roland Cassard's and it can be seen two more times: when Roland visits the umbrella shop to give Ms. Emery the money for her pearl necklace, and again as the wedding car. The license plate is the same and can be seen in this latter scene and in the very first.

Roland tells Genevieve's mother he once loved a woman named "Lola." "Lola" is a Demy film from 1961, in which Marc Michel plays the same character of Roland.

At the ending scene, Geneviève mentioned about picking up her daughter from Anjou. In reality Anjou is 4.5 hours drive away from Paris, and from Paris to Cherbourg is 3.5 hours in an opposite direction. That makes this "detour" a very long drive.

Stage adaptations in New York (1979), Paris (1979), Los Angeles (1979), London (1980), Tokyo (1983), Denmark (2014).

All the dialogue in the film is sung.

The children in the final scene have personal connections to the filmmakers: Genevieve's daughter Françoise is played by Jacques Demy's adopted daughter by Agnes Varda, Rosalie Varda-Demy; and Guy's son François is played by composer Michel Legrand's son.