When I first saw Catherine Deneuve in a film I thought she was the most ethereal actress I have ever seen. Deneuve is extremely beautiful but she is also a breathtaking actress. Deneuve has acted in films that stay with you for days to come and films that make you want to revisit them again and again.

Here are my five favorite Catherine Deneuve films. Many of her films are in her native language of French but they are worth watching with subtitles in case you don't know French. I find a lot is lost when you watch a film or television show that is dubbed. 

These five film recommendations will leave you saddened, moved, bewildered, inspired, and haunted. Have you ever watched any of these films? What foreign language films do you prefer to watch? 

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)

"Time Enough at Last" is the 8th of Season One of The Twilight Zone. It stars the amazing Burgess Meredith as Henry Bemis who is bank teller and bookworm. Bemis is easily distracted by the books he is reading which often leads him to not being the best bank teller. His passion for books can be seen as a hobby or a passion or even an obsession. Bemis is the ultimate book nerd.

What Bemis wants more than anything is more time to read. The fewer the obstacles that get in the way of reading more books the better. Bemis usually takes his lunch breaks in the bank vault so that he will not be distracted. While in the vault he reads a newspaper that says, "H-Bomb Capable of Total Destruction", moments later a huge explosion happens outside. When Bemis recovers from the explosion he leaves what is left of his bank and quickly realizes that the world around him has been destroyed. 

Bemis is devastated at the prospect of being alone forever until he discovers that the local library still has books that have not been destroyed. Realizing that he now has all the time in the world to read all the books he wants without responsibilities or distractions, he begins to collect them. Right when he bends over to pick up his first book to read he trips and falls breaking his glasses. When he picks up his glasses they are completely broken. Poor Bemis begins to cry because he is blind without his glasses and now not only is he alone but can never read a book again.

This episode is the definition of bittersweet. The idea of being so close to having the thing you want most in this world and having that thing being taken away so easily and quickly. Henry Bemis's story is a cautionary tale about being careful about what we wish for but also a reminder about the difference between solitude and loneliness. All Bemis wanted was enough time and solitude to read the books he wanted to read but with the world destroyed and his inability to read he is left in sheer loneliness. 

I felt invested in the 1961 film version when I was a little girl just as much as I felt invested in this reimagining. To be Puerto Rican and born and raised in Manhattan, I felt a keen connection to the story and its music. To be honest I wasn't going to give this film a chance at all because I love the West Side Story 1961 so much. That is until I realized that I couldn't judge a film I haven't seen. 

I ended up seeing West Side Story (2021) twice in the movie theater and brought my children with me. I wanted them to see Latinos in that magnitude in a big movie telling this iconic tragic tale. And this film did not disappoint. There are so many things that took me by surprise and left me in wonder. 

Things I Appreciated As a New York Puerto Rican:

• Bernardo using Puerto Rican slang words
• Many scenes being filmed in Washington Heights
• Every single scene Valentina is in
• Valentina singing "Somewhere"
• The colors the Jets and Sharks wore-the Sharks were bright yellow, red, and maroon 
• All the Spanish spoken had no English subtitles
• The realism of Anita telling Maria you will have to leave with Tony and never come back
• Seeing the Puerto Rican flag in many scenes which is important to the culture because they were not allowed to show their flag in public until 1952

Things That Caught Me By Surprise:

• The Sharks singing the Puerto Rican National Anthem in front of the Jets and cops
• The Jets understanding that Puerto Rico isn't a country or an American state
• The Jets acknowledging that Puerto Rican's are Americans
• The Jets referring to Anita as black and calling her derogatory names
• Graziella standing up for Anita and screaming at the Jets to try and protect her
• Anybodys clearly representing that she doesn't want to be a girl but a boy
• Anybodys channeling her own concerns being in a woman body and tells Anita not to enter Doc's store
• Tony climbing up the fire escape to Maria 
• Riff tearing up the moment he was stabbed and saying to Tony"It's going to be okay"
• Maria and Tony having their dance behind the bleachers, making it more realistic than defying everyone and dancing in front of them
• Maria and Tony going on an actual date
• Maria and Tony going to the Cloisters in upper Manhattan
• Maria having a job being a night cleaning woman in a shop
• Maria going in for a kiss a few moment after meeting Tony
• The derogatory term "Spic" being used to call the Puerto Ricans
• Lieutenant Schrank telling the Jets that they were "the last of the can't make it Caucasian's"