The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

This film was by Jacques Demy. It was his third film. He was married to Agnes Varda. He died in 1990.

This was by far my favorite film so far of the semester. i love musicals and this was a musical to the 100th degree! Every single word is sung! What a genius idea! The opening of the films says that it will be in "french, in color and in song".

This film was very anti-naturalistic. Especially with the use of colors. The most vivid and sometimes ugly colors ever imagined are used. (pink, yellow, blue, green and purple.) Often times the actors outfits will match or be the exact opposite of the wallpaper in the room they are in. The question arises 'does color have a certain meaning?" We see when the female character is at the train station her waving her blue hanky. When he comes home from war, and goes back to work at the garage, we see all dull browns, including a brown dog. It is evident that Demy wanted the colors to be significant and a major part of the film.

In a weird way this film is about everyday life. We see a woman working in an umbrella store, a place where people frequent everyday in the need of an umbrella. We see young love, and youthful romatic dreams. We see war, and the speration and pain that causes. We see an unwed mother trying to figure out her future. We see people settling for their second choices, and we see the struggle of class. The unwed mother marries a rich man to protect her future, her mother is struggling to make ends meet while refusing to give up her standard of living. The man drinks away his sorrows, until his future love saves him.

I really enjoyed this film. I thought it was extremely original and enjoyed every minute of it. I loved the extremely vivid colors and the possible hidden meanings behind them.