Film: “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg” starring Catherine Deneuve (1964)

What would top your list of the most romantic movies ever made? “Wuthering Hights” with Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon? “Doctor Zhivago” with Omar Sharif and Julie Christie? If you said “Love Actually,“ please stop reading this review and go to your room.

But if you agree somewhat with my first two choices, your horizons are about to be broadened: on a scale of 1 to 10 on the romantic heartbreak scale, “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg” (1964) gets an 11.

Jacques Demy’s film is being shown this week at NYC’s Film Forum. And apart from a 4k restoration that made it even more sumptuous, everything remains the same. That would include the score by Michel Legrand, which basically put him on the map in Hollywood. And the film’s dialogue, which as you may know, is not spoken but entirely sung, as in opera.

The plot? Genevieve (an ethereal, fairly unknown 21-year-old beauty named Catherine Deneuve) works in an umbrella store in Cherbourg, France circa 1957 owned by her mother, Madame Emery (Anne Vernon). Genevieve is in love with Guy (Nino Castelnuovo), a handsome young garage mechanic. He lives with his ailing aunt Elise (Mireille Perrey) who is cared for by a young nurse, Madeleine (Ellen Farner).

Pledging their undying love in secret (as Madame does not approve of such goings-on), Guy and Genevieve want to wed—but suddenly Guy is drafted to serve in the Algerian war. Realizing they may not see each other for years, they make love—and Genevieve soon discovers she is pregnant.

Meanwhile, Madame’s umbrella store is under water for failure to pay back taxes. To meet expenses, she decides to sell her jewelry. While at the local jeweler, she meets Roland Cassard (Georges Blaness), a kind, young, and very wealthy Parisian jeweler who agrees to help her out. It doesn’t hurt that lovely Madeleine has accompanied her and that Roland is tres head-over-ze-heels gaga for her.

Seeing the young man as a meal ticket (and possible suitor for her daughter), Madame promises to stay in touch. At a dinner party months later, Roland unexpectedly asks her for Genevieve’s hand in marriage. The daughter is torn—should she wait for Guy to return from the war, or should she take the chance and accept Roland’s proposal—and that’s IF he accept the fact she’s 5 months pregnant.

Flash forward two years, as Guy returns from the service to find Genevieve gone. Dejected, he quits his job and is about to sink into a life of dissipation, when he reconnects with Madeleine, his aunt’s nurse. Guy eventually marries her. All this leads to a finale years later that will make the hardest heart melt.

What makes this romance an 11 out of 10 is not merely the chemistry between Deneuve and Castelnuovo, but the score that provides the backdrop for their love story. To hear “I Will Wait For You” as Genevieve sees Guy off at the Cherbourg train station is moviemaking at its richest. The other famous tune running through the film (and currently in my head) is “Watch What Happens” which was nominated for Best Original Song at the 1964 Oscars.

But why just trust me? In the United States, “Umbrellas” was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Foreign-Language Film, Best Original Screenplay(Demy), and Best Original Score (Demy and Legrand). In 2018, a BBC Culture critics' poll ranked the film in the Top 100 Greatest Non-English Films of All Time.

Both Damien Chazelle and Greta Gerwig have cited “Umbrellas” as a major influence on their movies “LaLa Land” and “Barbie” respectively. Please. That’s like saying a 2010 Lafite Rothschild was an influence on Tang Breakfast Drink.

Do yourself a favor and google search this movie until you find it streaming somewhere. Joyeaux Noel!

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