Die Regenschirme von Cherbourg

Always I considered this film as brilliant example of real cinema. for reasons escaping from the skin of words. for a special form of beauty. for the courage of director. for performances and colors and story. and, yes, especially for music. it seems be a musical. but it is so different by one ! for a sort of...magic. who remains in your memory. who determes you to see it time by time. and for the great emotion defining it as a n experience. it is real cinema example because it is not entertainment. it is not refuge for blockbuster pieces. it is not a demonstration. it is not a show. it could be a confession. about love, life, Cherbourg, umbrellas shop and compromises. in the most delicate and precise manner. a film who remains the best answer when, for understand the life, need, for 90 minutes, escape from it. a gem, maybe. or just the real cinema.

A very French, very idiosyncratic musical that while lacking any discernible 'songs' or dance routines manages to be one of the most affecting musicals ever written. Remy says he was inspired by American musicals, and yet a more non-American could hardly be imagined. Can we really pretend that an American studio in 1963 would endorse the story of pre-marital sex and the romance of marrying a 17-year old girl pregnant with another man's child and not feel the need to moralize or condemn? Only in France, and thank God for it. All the cast are brilliant - charming and charismatic; the production design looks like a psychedelic gingerbread house; the score is exceptional; the singing genuinely heart-felt and moving; and the whole thing is carried off with such effortless confidence and unreserved joy that it's impossible not to fall in love with it.

when I was in high school, taking french, the teacher would occasionally push a tape into a slot and show a "movie." the idea was for us kids to hear the language. well, this was one of the movies. at the time, my feelings concerning "umbrellas" were... truthfully, I didn't know what to think. as a seventeen year old I don't think I would have recommended it.

channel surfing last night I came across it again on TCM. what a difference 9000 days makes. this is a very unique film. it's not a musical, even with the sung dialog, jazzy score and saturated colors. it's stylish camera work/art direction doesn't contradict the neorealism aspect either. It enhances it.

even with the "star crossed lovers" aspect, the film isn't sentimental or corny. and the socio-economic angle is also treated tastefully.

This is an ART film in the true sense of the term. and Anne Vernon. Je t'aime.

Absolutely wonderful French musical featuring twenty-year old Catherine Denevue singing every word of dialogue along with a cast of well-known (at the time) French actors. The production is opera as only the French knew how to do it. The tale is from old Europe -- love, betrayal, remorse but cast against the last years of France's Algerian crisis. The music, well it starts to sound like side 2 of a Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 record after awhile, nevertheless it does catch your attention and makes you focus on the story. A truly unique movie-going experience, "Umbrellas" is sure to entertain from its giddy start to its surprisingly poignant end. Find it!

I have read through many - but not all -- of the comments on this movie, and I am shocked -- just shocked -- not to find any praise for Nino Castelnuovo who plays the mechanic-draftee Guy. Everyone seems to be captivated with Catherine Deneuve -- which fascination is understandable, I admit. But lack of attention to the centrality of Guy's role -- loved, betrayed, redeemed -- and blindness to the acting and handsomeness of Nino, are totally, totally unforgivable! IMHO.