A virtuoso update. Gerard Depardieu's Cyrano is nothing short of magnificent. In this version of Edmond Rostand's classic drama of unrequited love, his Cyrano is less physical caricature, more flesh and blood, and a markedly younger, more virile nobleman than the usually avuncular ones of
the past. Dealing as it does with universals--that beauty is both in the eye of the beholder and only skin deep--this slightly abbreviated adaptation by director Jean-Paul Rappeneau and Jean-Claude Carriere retains both the panache and poignancy of its source.
As in the play, the film opens in a theater where the lovers first meet and where Cyrano has come to jeer at his enemy, the ham Montfleury (Gabriel Monnet). Cyrano is heard before he is seen, and his voice practically bellows with resonant majesty. When he finally appears, in profile, his nose
immediately draws attention. What is interesting here is, unlike other productions where the nose stops just short of Pinocchio's and makes an obvious freak of the character, the producers have gone to pains to see that this Cyrano is not grotesque. It is Depardieu's normal nose in shape, only
extended, and by making the character less of a freak, the filmmakers also succeed in making his pain all the more poignant.
The extraordinarily talented Depardieu, who has appeared in more than 70 films, gives his Cyrano a winning combination of grace and gusto, and is a commanding presence, both literally and figuratively. He's unexpectedly fleet of foot during the dueling scenes, recalling Douglas Fairbanks or Burt
Lancaster. He brings a welcome vibrancy to the role, which won him the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival. Brochet's Roxane is not shallow, as she is often portrayed, but much a product of her times, impressed with the literary conceits of poseurs of her generation. With its masterful
acting, exquisitely muted cinematography, vast complement of extras, extravagant props and scenery, CYRANO DE BERGERAC was, at $20 million, France's most expensive movie production. Though filmed on a grand scale, it does not lose the emotional impact of the play, which had its premiere in Paris
in 1898, and has been a mainstay of the legitimate theater ever since. leave a comment
