Les Parapluies de Cherbourg (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg) (1964)

98% of critics liked it
(46 reviews)
86% of users liked it
(8,668 ratings)

Jacques Demy's 1964 masterpiece is a pop-art opera, or, to borrow the director's own description, a film in song. This simple romantic tragedy begins in 1957. Guy Foucher (Nino Castelnuovo), a 20-year-old French auto mechanic, has fallen in love with 17-year-old Geneviève Emery (a luminous Catherine… More Jacques Demy's 1964 masterpiece is a pop-art opera, or, to borrow the director's own description, a film in song. This simple romantic tragedy begins in 1957. Guy Foucher (Nino Castelnuovo), a 20-year-old French auto mechanic, has fallen in love with 17-year-old Geneviève Emery (a luminous Catherine Deneuve), an employee in her widowed mother's chic but financially embattled umbrella shop. On the evening before Guy is to leave for a two-year tour of combat in Algeria, he and Geneviève make love. She becomes pregnant and must choose between waiting for Guy's return or accepting an offer of marriage from a wealthy diamond merchant (Marc Michel, reprising his role from Demy's masterful debut, Lola). A completely sung movie, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is closest in form to a cinematic opera. Composer Michel Legrand composed the score, modeling it around the patterns of everyday conversation. Umbrellas was re-released in 1997. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: G, 1 hr. 30 min.
Directed By: Jacques Demy
Written By: Jacques Demy
Genres: Drama, Romance, Musical & Performing Arts, Art House & International

In Theaters: Feb 13, 2004 Limited
On DVD: Oct 28, 1997
Studio: Zeitgeist Films

Critic Reviews

, Variety
Seemingly banal and sentimental on the surface, [director Jacques] Demy has avoided these aspects by tasteful handling and the right balance in emotion, compassion and narrative.
Bosley Crowther, New York Times
Not only has he resurrected the quaint and artificial device of having the dialogue set to music and unrealistically sung, but he uses this operatic method to tell a story that is so banal... it wouldn't get beyond a reader in Hollywood.
Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg has stood the test of time as beautifully as Deneuve and seems likely to enchant future generations as fully as it has audiences over the past four decades.
Jessica Winter, Village Voice
A choreography of the everyday timed to Demy's floating long takes and Michel Legrand's at turns jaunty and lachrymose score.
Andrew Sarris, New York Observer
Delicately bittersweet.
Hal Hinson, Washington Post
A glorious romantic confection unlike any other in movie history.
Tim Brayton, Antagony & Ecstasy
A number of different factors raise this absurdly simple scenario to the level of highest excellence, but the chief among them is surely Michel Legrand's iconic score.
Fran Hortop, Film4
A truly unique and wonderful film from a director who stands apart in the French cinema canon.
Josh Larsen, LarsenOnFilm
Everything in the movie is heightened; watching it, you may feel as if the screen is emitting caffeine.
Urban Cinefile Critics, Urban Cinefile
This bitter-sweet love story set to Michel Legrand's music from writer director Jacques Demy marks the film debut of the then 20 year old Catherine Deneuve, whose delicate beauty and screen presence has enchanted the world ever since
Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com
Deneuve!
Steve Crum, Video-Reviewmaster.com
Modern (for 1964) opera-musical in French is one of a kind.
Ben Walters, Time Out
Umbrellas makes escapist play with the stuff of kitchen-sink social realism.
Kim Newman, Empire Magazine
Catherine Deneuve won the Best Actress prize at Cannes, but the vocal performances of the entire ensemble are impeccable. Pure cinematic magic.
Tom Dawson, BBC
Deneuve is luminously beautiful throughout, looking fabulously chic even in a maternity dress.
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
Enchanting from first frame to last, Jacques Demy's innovative, Oscar-nominated musical, which stars Catherine Deneuve, celebrates everyday life in song--all the dialogue is delivered through music.
Mark Pfeiffer, Reel Times: Reflections on Cinema
Michel Legrand's music is the film's heartbeat, and it soars and dips according to the melodrama.
Laura Clifford, Reeling Reviews
As a filmlover, discovering a masterpiece is like finding buried treasure.
Michael Dequina, TheMovieReport.com
As great as movies get.

Read all 19 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Ken S

A full-on musical. Singing from start to finish, all 90 minutes. All scored, no talking, total commitment. The production design is also awesome enough to give Wes Anderson a hard-on. How successful is it? Very. It's not without it's flaws, but it's very watchable.
Michael S

The colors, the picaresque locales, the entirely sung dialogue, and the angel that is Catherine Deneuve! "The Umbrellas of Cherbourgh" is 90 minutes of cinematic joy. Simple human melodrama made engaging, profound, and unforgettable in the hands of a master (Demy). If the… More
The colors, the picaresque locales, the entirely sung dialogue, and the angel that is Catherine Deneuve! "The Umbrellas of Cherbourgh" is 90 minutes of cinematic joy. Simple human melodrama made engaging, profound, and unforgettable in the hands of a master (Demy). If the ending doesn't make you weep then I guess you're just not human. A classic musical and easily one of the finest ever crafted.
Stephen M

Although the highpoints of the film are those of the traditional musical, namely the stars communicating their joys and sorrows through song, what makes "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" so special is that all of the mundane connecting material is sung as well. We get people… More
Although the highpoints of the film are those of the traditional musical, namely the stars communicating their joys and sorrows through song, what makes "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" so special is that all of the mundane connecting material is sung as well. We get people singing about going to the hairdressers or putting the kettle on, even swearing in song! Catherine Deneuve is absolutely adorable at the start, but our sympathies are gradually transferred from her knocked-up shop-girl, first to the adoring jeweller she marries out of convenience, finally to the first lover who reluctantly abandoned her to complete his national service. By the end of the movie, tragically, Deneuve has paid the price of ignoring her heart by transforming into one of her typically chic, glacial blonds. The vibrantly coloured art direction assaults the senses like a Dulux sheepdog's wet-dream, and complete delight is only precluded by some gratuitous product-placement for 'Esso'.
Keysha H

Vivid and exciting. Although it is truely a musical from start to finish, you will fall in love with the characters. The city is colorful and alive, and the music will just move you to tears everytime. Perfect.
Jennifer X

This is so cheesy, but it works! It's everything a saccharine musical should be - patent displays of show, incessantly sung dialogue, a sugary sweet background. But at the same time the film is about realism. The actors are gorgeous, the scenery is flawless, and all the singing… More
This is so cheesy, but it works! It's everything a saccharine musical should be - patent displays of show, incessantly sung dialogue, a sugary sweet background. But at the same time the film is about realism. The actors are gorgeous, the scenery is flawless, and all the singing is pretty upbeat despite troubles. I love that Jacques Demy creates this fantasy world and inside it tells this very real story. The contrast is just stunning. But the true stars of movie are set designers (or whatever you call them), who manage to make this movie one of the most aesthetically pleasing movies EVER - EVERYTHING matches! The clothes match with the umbrellas, and the wallpaper, and the GROUND, and other people's clothing. It's such a treat for the eyes, like you've temporarily fallen into Candyland. All the clothing is tastefully chosen to match the surroundings, the colored wallpaper and the furniture oh my GOSH I wish my house looked so tantalizingly PERFECT.
Lanning :

A modern French opera, <i>Umbrellas of Cherbourg</i> depicts the difference between the life we hope for versus the life for which we settle. A bitterwseet love story about dreams and reality.
Walter M

[font=Century Gothic][color=blue]"Mississippi Mermaid" starts out on the Isle of Reunion as cigarette factory owner, Louis Mahe(Jean Paul Belmondo) waits for his fiancee as the eponymous boat is docking. He met her through a personal ad.(During the opening credits, various… More
[font=Century Gothic][color=blue]"Mississippi Mermaid" starts out on the Isle of Reunion as cigarette factory owner, Louis Mahe(Jean Paul Belmondo) waits for his fiancee as the eponymous boat is docking. He met her through a personal ad.(During the opening credits, various voices read out personal ads.) The woman who shows up does not resemble the photo he was sent but he does not mind since the woman is played by the beautiful Catherine Deneuve. As he gets to know her, he becomes suspicious that things are not exactly right. This is not one of Francois Truffaut's better movies but it is still entertaining due to the talents of its two stars.(According to Wikipedia, the Isle of Reunion is still under the government of France which lends an uncomfortable air of colonialism to the proceedings.)[/color][/font] [font=Century Gothic][color=#0000ff][/color][/font] [font=Century Gothic][color=red]I had hesitated in seeing "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" before because when I had seen the trailer, it had looked very corny, especially the scene at the train station where the two lovers part. But since I have now seen the film, I have come to a different conclusion. Watching Genevieve(Catherine Deneuve) and Guy(Nino Castelnuovo) in love for the first thirty minutes makes that scene in the context of the film powerfully emotional. Guy is getting drafted into the army and they are not sure when they will be reunited. What makes this film unique is that all of the dialogue is sung(early in the film, the couple mention they are going to go see the opera, Carmen) and the film is absolutely beautiful to look at. This is an excellent film about the idealism of youth as compared to the compromises of being a grown up.(Roland Cassard(Marc Michel) who was a character in Jacques Demy's Lola(1961) makes a return appearance here.)[/color][/font] [font=Century Gothic][color=#0000ff][/color][/font] [font=Century Gothic][color=#0000ff][/color][/font]
William G

Perfectly frothy melodrama.
Anthony V

If you don't like this, then you don't like movies.