They say April showers bring May flowers. Every time April comes running around I think of the film, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964). This film makes me think about the colors of spring and the rain that brings all the color to life around me. It stars Catherine Deneuve as Geneviève Emery who is the only child of a single mother. Her mother owns and runs an umbrella shop where Geneviève also works.
Geneviève begins to date a dashing, young man named Guy Foucher (played by the late Nino Castelnuovo)who is also a auto mechanic who cares for his bedridden aunt. Geneviève's mother does not support their relationship but Geneviève and Guy are deeply in love. In the film we hear them sing to one another about their love and devotion to each other. It seems nothing would tear them about until Guy is drafted to serve in the Algerian War.
Time passes and Geneviève's devotion to Guy never wavers even after she realizes she is carrying his child. Her mother believes that waiting for Guy will prove to be futile so she encourages Geneviève to marry a man named Roland Cassard who is a wealthy jeweler. Geneviève agrees to marry him and when Guy returns he is devastated to learn about her marriage. Guy has difficulties returning back to civilian life but a girl he once knew named Madeleine, helps him to get back one is feet.
A few years pass when Geneviève comes across Guy at a American styled gas station that he owns and runs with his wife Madeleine and his son Françoise. Years ago at the height of their love to one another both Geneviève and Guy promised they would name their first child Françoise. It is a promise they both kept but with a much different outcome. I will save the ending for you to discover on your own.
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) is a visually stunning film paired with gorgeous colors and costumes. What makes this film so unique is not only the aesthetic but also that all of the dialogue in this film is sung. Not one spoken word can be heard, only the voices of the characters through lyrics in the form of causal conversation.
Jacques Demy who directed this film gifts us a distinctive look at youth, love, and romance. He shows us both the magical side of young love and the harshness of the realities in life all within a scenery of dreamy pastel colors, lyrical dialogue, and the beauty that is Catherine Deneuve.
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