Cyrano von Bergerac

No, no, my dearest love... I don't love you!

I was just a teenager when I first saw this film. I really didn't know what to expect of a French movie with unknown actors (at least to me by then), with a story I didn't previously know and with the only reference of some Cesar awards. After all, it was an european movie, it was French, it was based in a classic book and with a romantic theme. But something attracted me.

I was shocked.

Actually it was the first movie I ever went to see to the cinema more than once. I purchased it on VHS as soon as I could, and I am getting it on DVD now that it's available in Spain. After all this time, I know by heart almost every scene of the movie, and it keeps on bringing tears to my eyes in the final scenes, no matter how many times I've seen it.

The movie has so many things so nicely put together, it's almost impossible not to be hooked on some of them.

To begin with, I was very surprised with the fact that the whole movie is spoken in verse. I think it was the first time I had ever seen something like that, and it is probably also the last since I can't remember any other movie like this! I don't know how well it was done in English, but I can say it was translated into Spanish awesomely. I can only wonder how beautiful it is in the original French version. Everything is so musically coherent and adequate, that you really enjoy watching the movie spoken in verse. I loved it.

Then there is the absolutely magnificent performance by Gerard Depardieu. He perfectly resembles at every moment the personality of the eager and sometimes naive but at the same time extremely intelligent, romantic, desperate and vulnerable Cyrano. His physical look, his facial expressions, his voice... everything makes him the perfect Cyrano de Bergerac. You really share his suffering and at the same time you admire its strong personality and determination. He makes Cyrano an admirable man, an enjoyable human being. Wonderful.

Apart from that, there is many more things in this movie that make it absolutely enjoyable. The humor. The sets and props, all the environments created. The music. And the story is an absolute classic that many people will feel related to; the struggle of a man than, even though not physically gifted, wants to live and love with no limits... to the person who is not ready to correspond him. Maybe it's the reason why it was so touching for me when I was a teenager, and maybe that's why it still brings tears to my eyes even today :)

All in all, a beautiful romantic tale with great sets and performances and that will touch almost anyone's hearts. My favourite movie of all time, and definetly a classic.

If you are a hopelessly romantic guy like me, you will love this movie. :) It is very poetic and moving. The english sub-titles forces you to really pay attention to the words, which are the best part of the movie. French IS the language of love, so they say. I bet your girlfriend will like it too! (In case you don't have a girlfriend, you can watch it and think of yourself as a diamond in the rough, romantic, poetic and underappreciated, just Cyrano. :p

Very rarely, you come across a foreign-language film that is so masterfully directed, acted and translated that by the end, you forget you're reading the subtitles. This is such a movie. The story of Cyrano de Bergerac--soldier, scholar, nonconformist and poet, with a beautiful soul and freakish face--is one that should resonate with anyone who has ever yearned for love, but feared rejection too much to take the risk. It's a movie that should be seen by every awkward teenager, every hopeless romantic, and every stubborn soul that refuses to conform.

Gérard Depardieu became famous with Cyrano, and Cyrano de Bergerac knew its master with Depardieu.

This classic piece of French literature is based on real events (largely adapted), and while it is a stage play, the skill of transposing the play to the silver screen is a feat!

The film resorts to skillful cutting of the text (now public domain - check Gutemberg), which sounds easy, but is not, because it flows so naturally and needs to be cut surgically, word for word.

At the same time, all that is missing from the script by Edmond Rostand is inspired by generations of stage performance. The miracle then is making the script in French likable to audiences who do not understand French, as Edmond Rostand can be compared to George Bernard Shaw, Shakespeare and Samuel Beckett.

The genius of Gérard Depardieu and the beauty of the sets, the quality and care for detail all push to bring this beautiful film within reach of non French audiences. In that respect the sword duel scene at the beginning is memorable and worth playing twice on DVD!

One thing though, the finale scene I found awkward but Edmond Rostand created it so the director had no choice.

The film that made me realise that it's OK for guys to cry. Cyrano, as played so convincingly by Depardieu, is a great rollicking hero, not the foppish aristocrat of previous productions. Indeed, it is his larger than life robustness that makes his futile, towering defiance at the resolution so poignant; the ignoble end of a hero is a classic theme, right from Beowulf, through John Wayne's "The Shootist", to 2000's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"

The lyricism in the English translation of Cyrano is commendable, the filmmaking technically sound, the sets and choreography well presented. Depardieu's portrayal of the legendary swordsman as a bullish brawler rather than a delicate fencer is an interesting take, and I find it works.

The downside is that the character of Roxanne is so utterly insipid and moronic that you wonder why Cyrano is so taken with her. The tragedy of this Cyrano isn't that his love is unrequited, but that it's so misplaced. An interesting contrast is with "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", which replaces the Roxanne character with a peer for the hero, a "companion battleship" as Henry Higgins would say. This makes for an even more heartwrenching story, and makes you realise that Cyrano could have been even better if Depardieu's superb performance had been tempered just a little in favour of a Roxanne who was more worthy of his regard.