Cyrano de Bergerac (1990 film)

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Cyrano de Bergerac
Cyrano1990.jpg
Film poster
Directed by Jean-Paul Rappeneau
Produced by René Cleitman
Michel Seydoux
André Szots
Written by Jean-Claude Carrière
Jean-Paul Rappeneau
Edmond Rostand
Starring Gérard Depardieu
Anne Brochet
Vincent Pérez
Jacques Weber
Music by Jean-Claude Petit
Cinematography Pierre Lhomme
Distributed by UGC
Release dates
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  • 28 March 1990 (1990-03-28)
Running time
 137 minutes
Country France
Language French
Box office $5.8 million (USA)[1]

Cyrano de Bergerac is a 1990 French comedy drama film directed by Jean-Paul Rappeneau and based on the 1897 play of the same name by Edmond Rostand, adapted by Jean-Claude Carrière and Rappeneau. It stars Gérard Depardieu, Anne Brochet and Vincent Pérez. The film was a co-production between companies in France and Hungary.

The film is the first theatrical film version of Rostand's original play in color, and the second theatrical film version of the play in the original French. It is also considerably more lavish and more faithful to the original than previous film versions of the play. The film had 4,732,136 admissions in France.[2]

The English subtitles use Anthony Burgess's translation of the text, which uses five-beat lines with a varying number of syllables and a regular couplet rhyming scheme, in other words, a sprung rhythm. Although he sustains the five-beat rhythm through most of the play, Burgess sometimes allows this structure to break deliberately: in Act V, he allows it collapse completely, creating a free verse.

In 2010, it was ranked #43 in Empire magazine's "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema".[3]

Plot

Cyrano de Bergerac (Gérard Depardieu) is a Parisian poet and swashbuckler with a large nose of which he is self-conscious, but pretends to be proud. He is madly in love with his "friendly cousin" (they were not actually related as cousins), the beautiful Roxane (Anne Brochet); however, he does not believe she will requite his love because he considers himself physically unattractive, because of his over large nose. Soon, he finds that Roxane has become infatuated with Christian de Neuvillette (Vincent Pérez), a dashing new recruit to the Cadets de Gascogne, the military unit in which Cyrano is serving. Christian however, despite his good looks, is tongue-tied when speaking with women. Seeing an opportunity to vicariously declare his love for Roxane, he decides to aid Christian, who does not know how to court a woman and gain her love.

Cyrano aids Christian, writing love letters and poems describing the very emotions that Cyrano himself feels for Roxane. Roxane begins to appreciate Christian, not only for his good looks but also his apparent eloquence. She eventually falls in love with him and they contract a secret marriage in order to thwart the plans of the Comte de Guiche (Jacques Weber), an arrogant nobleman who is himself a frustrated wooer of Roxane. In revenge, De Guiche summons Christian to fight in the war against the Spanish. The war is harsh and brutal: the Cadets de Gascogne are starving. Cyrano escapes over enemy lines each morning to deliver a love letter written by Cyrano himself but signed with Christian's name, sent to Roxane.

Christian, at this time, is completely unaware of Cyrano's doings on his behalf. The love letters Cyrano writes eventually draw Roxane out from the city of Paris to the war front. She had come to visit Christian, the supposed romantic poet. Apparently, she admitted that she would rather love an ugly, but great poet, than a handsome, dimwitted fellow. Christian, realizing his mistake, tries to find out whether Roxane loves him or Cyrano, and asks Cyrano to find out. However, during the battle that follows Roxane's visit, Christian is wounded and dies in battle. As he lies dying, Cyrano tells him that he asked Roxane and it was Christian she loved, but he actually has done no such thing. Cyrano fights off the attackers and the French win.

Cyrano keeps his love for Roxane a secret for fourteen years, during which time he becomes unpopular because of his writings satirizing the nobility. Roxane, grief-stricken, enters a convent. For fourteen years, Cyrano faithfully visits Roxane at her convent every week, never late until a fateful attempt on his life leaves him mortally injured. (He is not wounded by a sword, but instead suffers a serious head injury when struck by a heavy wooden beam.)

One evening, Cyrano visits Roxane against doctor's orders at the convent. Although he faints while telling her the court news, he dismisses it as the effect of his wound at Arras. When she mentions Christian's last letter, he asks to read it, but after she gives it to him, he instead is forced to recite it from memory, as it is now too dark for him to be able to read it. Only then does Roxane realize that it was Cyrano who wooed her under the balcony and wrote the love letters. After fainting again, he is forced to reveal his mortal wound to her. As Cyrano dies, Roxane realizes that it was he, and not Christian, whom she had really loved all along.

Cast

Setting

The film was shot in several locations across France and Hungary. Notable locations include:

Awards and nominations

Academy Awards

Award[4] Person
Best Costume Design Franca Squarciapino
Nominated:
Best Actor Gérard Depardieu
Best Art Direction Ezio Frigerio
Jacques Rouxel
Best Foreign Language Film France
Best Makeup Michèle Burke
Jean-Pierre Eychenne

Gérard Depardieu's Best Actor nomination is an extremely rare feat for a non-English-speaking role.

This film marked the second time that an actor had been nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of Cyrano; the first time was in 1950, when José Ferrer was nominated for his performance in the English-language film of Cyrano de Bergerac. Ferrer, however, won his Oscar; Depardieu did not.

Cannes

Gérard Depardieu won the Best Actor award at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival.[5]

Césars

The film was nominated for 13 César Awards in 1991, and received 10, which is a record, including awards for Best Film, Best Actor, Best Cinematography, and Best Director.

  • Won: Best Actor – Leading Role (Gérard Depardieu)
  • Won: Best Actor – Supporting Role (Jacques Weber)
  • Won: Best Cinematography (Pierre Lhomme)
  • Won: Best Costume Design (Franca Squarciapino)
  • Won: Best Director (Jean-Paul Rappeneau)
  • Won: Best Editing (Noëlle Boisson)
  • Won: Best Film
  • Won: Best Music (Jean-Claude Petit)
  • Won: Best Production Design (Ezio Frigerio)
  • Won: Best Sound (Pierre Gamet and Dominique Hennequin)
  • Nominated: Best Actress – Leading Role (Anne Brochet)
  • Nominated: Best Writing (Jean-Claude Carrière and Jean-Paul Rappeneau)
  • Nominated: Most Promising Actor (Vincent Perez)

European Film Awards

  • Won: Best Production Designer (Ezio Frigerio (sets) and Franca Squarciapino (costumes))
  • Nominated: Best Actor (Gérard Depardieu)
  • Nominated: Best Actress (Anne Brochet)
  • Nominated: Best Cinematographer (Pierre Lhomme)
  • Nominated: Best Composer (Jean-Claude Petit)
  • Nominated: Best Film

Golden Globe

The film won the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

BAFTA

  • Won: Best Costume Design (Franca Squarciapino)
  • Won: Best Cinematography (Pierre L'Homme)
  • Won: Best Makeup (Jean-Pierre Eychenne, Michele Burke)
  • Won: Best Original Score (Jean-Claude Petit)
  • Nominated: Best Actor (Gérard Depardieu)
  • Nominated: Best Adapted Screenplay (Jean-Paul Rappeneau, Jean-Claude Carrière)
  • Nominated: Best Foreign Language Film
  • Nominated: Best Production Design (Ezio Frigerio)

Home media

Cyrano de Bergerac was released on DVD by Umbrella Entertainment in May 2005 as part of a collection with the 1950 version. The DVD is compatible with all region codes and includes special features such as the theatrical trailer, Umbrella Entertainment trailers, talent biographies, an interview with Gérard Depardieu and a Roger Ebert review.[6] In February 2009 an Academy Award edition was released by Umbrella Entertainment.[7]

See also

References

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External links

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