The Art of Originality: Why 'The Umbrellas of Cherbourg' Was A Tier Above the Rest

With the remnants of an antiquated Hollywood system, fresh star power, and audio innovations to spare, the 1960's saw more than its fair share of musicals. The Sound of Music, Mary Poppins, Gypsy, and West Side Story name just a few, but even with their wide acclaim, it remains difficult to compare them to likes of Jacques Demy's Masterpiece. 'The Umbrellas of Cherbourg' was released in 1964, the second in an informal trilogy that shared a portion of their cast, characters, and aesthetic. Telling the love story of a Geneviève and Guy, the film is quickly established as a romantic drama but quickly subverts generic expectations by shipping Guy off to the French-Algerian war. Arguably, the movie is not an outright love-story as much as it is a slice of life drama thematically focused on first love and change. The narrative spans six and some years to masterfully craft each of its characters' arcs through deliberate camera movements, an impressive color-scheme, superb set design, and its ideal union with musical theater. 

Arguably, Michael Legrand's stellar soundtrack provided one of the most crucial elements in conveying the emotional gravitas of the film. Songs are used to convey even the most basic dialogue and doubles as an underline to the emotional atmosphere. The characters are not aware of their singing. However, they are inclined to make comments about the theater or movies, most prominently seen in the opening scene as one character says to be leaving for the theater and another claims to prefer movies as the theater uses too much singing. While the movie risks ridicule, its witty references to its opera influence help keep the dialogue witty and engaging. 

Beyond the union of theater and cinema, the movie verses itself in much deeper themes through its narrative. While the audience is initially given the story of two (possibly star-crossed) lovers, the film hardly follows the conventions of traditional romance. In doing so it salvages itself from old cliches, unearthing a much more profound message. Thematically, 'The Umbrellas of Cherbourg' capitalizes on the idea of change and perhaps revolution to a less grandiose degree. The main male lead, Guy, is sent off to the Algerian revolution and upon his return, he comes to find his hometown has changed, stumbling as he works to reintegrate into society. The film partially veers away from the political angle of it, instead opting to explore the individual effect the revolution had, a more personal revolution. A pregnant Geneviève fails to marry a deploy Guy, stopped by her mother and her society as a whole. Guy has lost his chance at his first love, but he finds he has a chance with another. It is interesting to note in this situation the change that’s demonstrated the effect of war on a once domineering nation, but the movie shows this in fragments, snapshots of the civilian's lives. It is not a movie about the plunge into the ocean, so much as it is about the smaller ripples that follow. Beyond the film being an ode to a revolutionary medium that is neither wholly an opera or traditional movie, it is a musical that manages to tell a unique narrative with a bittersweet ending, arranging it on a tier above the rest.