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The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

1964
Romance
Drama
1h 31m
Geneviève, 17, lives with her widow mother, who owns an umbrella shop in Cherbourg. She and Guy, an auto mechanic, are in love and want to marry (imdb)
Your probable score
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The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

1964
Romance
Drama
1h 31m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 68.21% from 1324 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(1324)
Compact view
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Rated 14 Aug 2007
98
99th
The pinnacle of cinematic beauty. If the film is a "tragedy", it isn't because bad or terrible things happen, but because life is irreducibly characterised by a finitude and imperfection that means our efforts to muddle through are always struggles against circumstance that leave it ever tinged with sadness (but not only that). No other film keeps this viewer in such a state of perpetual affective tension (lump in the throat), no matter how many times it is watched.
Rated 28 Nov 2007
75
44th
The story is cute, not great but not bad. The colour scheme is nice, though the DVD I watched didn't do it any favours. The movie's main gimmick is that the entirety of the dialogue is sung. If that appeals to you then you'll love it, personally I just kept thinking how much better this would be without the singing.
Rated 16 Apr 2010
83
89th
i wish i watched this without subtitles
Rated 14 Aug 2007
66
28th
While I "get it", it's not especially interesting or fun. Slightly charming at first, irritating after a while. The story itself is mundane and predictable, and a lame story with a clever quirky gimmick is still a lame story.
Rated 24 May 2008
80
93rd
I don't think I have ever seen a musical where every line is sung by the actors, it is magnificient well done. This story is sweet and has a point, and the blossoming of the romance is beautiful. The music is brutally awsome.
Rated 18 Jan 2017
90
95th
Nouvelle Vague's heartbreaker, with Demy displaying a terrific sense of space and time by simply putting the narrative under the spell of constant singing. Not really a story of impossible love, but about the paths life takes us -- to a war, to marrying to someone else, to saying "hey, hope to see you soon" at a train station, to finally saying a mournful goodbye at a snowy gas station, as we go on dealing with our ghosts, broken hearts and the little joy of simply being alive.
Rated 25 Jan 2011
4
70th
Surprisingly weighty, given its reputation as candy-coated fluff (and to be sure, it starts out feeling that way). What seems like a storybook romance gives way to something more nuanced and bittersweet, even while playing off oft-used tropes of young-and-in-love tales. The bookends with Guy were more interesting than the central (and, fortunately, briefest) section, but it all adds up to something rewarding beyond its merits as a fun, colorful musical.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
100
98th
Unique French musical with enchanting music by Michel Legrand and poetic lyrics and direction by Jacques Demy. One of the most romantic films ever made.
Rated 20 Mar 2008
90
85th
Fantastic score and a beautiful love story. Love the use of color in this film as well.
Rated 05 Jul 2014
6
54th
The main problem with musicals is, unsurprisingly, the music, and the music here is forgettable. The melodies run together to the point where the songs become indistinguishable from one another. The main theme stuck with me, but that's about it. Try to hear specific songs from this movie in your head. I bet you can't. Now do the same for Singin' in the Rain. See? Much easier. Despite all of its strengths, the music problem had me exhausted by the end. But man, those colors...
Rated 20 May 2018
65
38th
While I'm not a fan of musicals, I'm also not a hater of them. But when literally every line is sung, the music becomes less of an outpouring of emotion, and more of an enforced modality that homogenizes expression. That's not to say it can't be done well, but it would certainly need both better writing and better music than there is here. The mise-en-scène is amazing, and granted the main theme is pretty memorable, but little else is.
Rated 07 Aug 2011
90
97th
I know: singing every word instead of simply uttering it is weird. But don't give up: by the end, you'll have found it absolutely normal. It's a risky yet entirely successful experiment, at the core of which lies one of the most beautiful love stories ever told on celluloid. The cast (especially Anne Vernon and Catherine Deneuve) also deserves kudos for capably coping with such a major peculiarity. And it's a film in which there's someone wearing clothes matching the tapicerie in every scene.
Rated 16 Feb 2008
40
23rd
Why does everybody love this silly thing so much?
Rated 20 Oct 2010
100
99th
The only movie that is capable of breaking my heart every time I see it... My favorite movie of all time.
Rated 08 Dec 2010
90
93rd
Awesome gimmick movie that takes the genre to it's extreme and contrasts the colorful sets with the rather grim and realistic story. Probably the best new wave film I've seen, complete with long tracking shots and characters looking into the camera. Oh, and might I on a personal note add, that I'm pleased to finally see a director that obviously hates musicals as much as I do.
Rated 13 May 2016
89
83rd
What may seem like a gimmick of an all sung musical with no spoken dialogue is surprisingly melancholic. In fact, it actually seems like life set to song, void of many dance numbers and is surprisingly dark. It is always visually engaging, and surprisingly flows well with its lyrical dialogue.
Rated 05 Oct 2008
9
93rd
I never thought I would like this but wow - incredible. Have you ever seen a movie where the WALLPAPER is so visually amazing? The story is something everyone can relate too as well, I think.
Rated 26 Mar 2014
97
97th
It would be enough if this were merely one of the most beautifully, sumptuously stylized films ever made. But on top of that, it has a far more real and truthful perspective on love and how life actually works than a lot of more "realistic" movies, which is just the icing on this already deliriously candy-colored cake.
Rated 02 Jan 2008
65
65th
Every single line in this very colorful movie is sung. It's very pleasurable audio-visually. I would have to call this a triumph of form over content, as the story itself, while not bad, has little going for it and the writing is trivial and banal. Still, it's a rather charming little film.
Rated 06 Feb 2015
70
50th
I'm heartbroken. Not because of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg's plot, but everything else. I love musicals and thought the concept was brilliant. I saw the bright, blooming colors and that this was a French movie and assumed that Demy foresaw my birth and created this movie just for me. Upon starting it, reality hit. It seems that the music was written before the dialogue, and every line sounds forced into the score with the same vocal melody and endless use of falsetto. Recommended, unexcitedly.
Rated 22 Oct 2008
72
48th
Breezy and fun. While I got accustomed to every line being sung, the music, while pleasant, eventually becomes kind of forgettable. I kind of wish they went the extra mile and had the songs in some sort of fixed structure, rather than the breezy, off the cuff style they used. The story is a soap opera, not a bad one, but still a little melodramatic and cheap.
Rated 25 Jul 2009
30
18th
I could not stand the non-stop singing! I didn't finish it.
Rated 17 Jan 2007
70
37th
Umbrella's use of constant music makes the film one song. It tells of love and memories, but it overall tells of loss. It sounds kind of poetic, and at times it is, but the film becomes incredibly dull at other times. Worth seeing, but don't be fooled by its insistant one-of-a-kindness. Meh!
Rated 04 Feb 2017
75
68th
This is a musical without dance and its very important. Normally, dance gives a feeling of enthusiasm and festivity, but with this film, the absence of dance gives a melancholic tone which is in line with the reality of an unfulfilled lovestory. Beneath its pop story, Demy actually narrates the bitter reality of a class society with a Marxist attitude: a car-mechanic can never merry a beautiful girl when a rich man competes with him, he should fight in the war as rich men get what they want.
Rated 27 Sep 2009
9
76th
The fact that the movie is so highly stylized helps immensely--I don't think I would've given two hoots about the story otherwise. A beautiful example of style matching content perfectly!
Rated 09 Jan 2007
100
99th
it's a shame they don't make films like this anymore.
Rated 30 Jan 2010
89
80th
One of the most romantic films ever made, and--as all great romances must be--incredibly sad.
Rated 07 Apr 2018
75
64th
A rich, colourful film that was unfortunately dulled by the DVD copy I rented from the library. The final scene is masterful.
Rated 19 May 2014
5
73rd
the daughter scrubbing snow off the car door is the most perfect thing.
Rated 13 Oct 2017
94
97th
I chose the wallpaper in every room of my house based on this movie. Everyone has an opinion about it.
Rated 06 Jul 2008
90
99th
Absolutely lovely.
Rated 09 Apr 2008
75
77th
I don't usually like musicals, but this one is more like a regular movie where everyone happens to sing.
Rated 23 Apr 2011
95
97th
I don't know if it is the stunning beauty of a young Catherine Deneuve, so perfectly caught by a great cinematographer, or solely the fact that I remained interested throughout in spite of the singing (some achievement, I dare say), but I loved it. Sometimes I even forgot they were singing. Such great coordination, such great acting with such hard terms to deal with. One I won't forget in a long time, and only for positive reasons. Last, but not least, the use of colors was truly magnificent.
Rated 21 Apr 2009
98
99th
One of the movies both I and my mother consider absolutely wonderful.
Rated 05 May 2015
8
97th
i cried again rewatching this delirious, bittersweet ode to love. though guy is a bit of a dick, impregnating geneviève the night before going to war.
Rated 09 Feb 2011
80
86th
A technically superior curiosity. It's a romantic tragedy served well by a downbeat melancholic ending. The constant singing is almost insufferable but the magnificent score underneath is mindblowing. Been humming it for the last week.
Rated 19 Oct 2013
89
96th
Beautiful. It's like a Hemingway novel turned into a cheery musical. And it's wonderfully vibrant. I want a house with that wallpaper.
Rated 21 Mar 2018
98
96th
Jacques Demy elevates the basic drama of everyday life into a soaring opera full of bittersweet passion and playful charm, featuring a timeless performance from Catherine Deneuve.
Rated 31 May 2022
94
88th
Life.
Rated 13 Mar 2010
100
97th
This movie blew me away, unbelievably good.
Rated 08 Oct 2013
70
57th
A pretty one-note and conventional plot is transformed, thanks to an initially somewhat off-putting, but ultimately charming gimmick (every line the characters speak is sung), into the pleasant and upbeat ravishment that is "Les Parapluies de Cherbourg". Although none of the sung parts are actually memorable, the music (which fuses jazz and classical) soars and entertains and so does Demy's vibrant use of colours. Deneuve delivers what is probably one of her very best performances.
Rated 24 Apr 2009
80
62nd
I wonder how would a Sam Peckinpah movie look like, if all the lines were sung like this...
Rated 29 Sep 2012
90
69th
Beautiful music, and beautiful colors.
Rated 10 Sep 2021
51
50th
More or less the same issue as Suspiria (which is hilarious given the vast gulf in content), in that the color palette is amazing but that's just not enough to be a good film to me. Singing every line is goofy and the story itself is blah; I will say though that the final scene really lands and somewhat saved this.
Rated 05 May 2019
7
57th
Resistance is futile.
Rated 25 Oct 2014
90
80th
Viewed October 24, 2014. This is not a musical. This is just a film about people who speak in a musical way. And that's what Demy's movies always were, but now he's made it more obvious. Sure, sometimes I wish there was an actual melody, a tune to actually latch onto, but when the pacing is this rhythmic, and the colors are this beautiful but the tone is so melancholic, it's hard to complain.
Rated 01 Mar 2008
88
80th
# 234
Rated 12 May 2009
95
33rd
I didn't have very high expectations for this film, but as Genevieve began to pull away from the gas station in the final scene and I wiped the tears from my eyes I came to realise just how amazing this film is.
Rated 20 Apr 2012
55
7th
Had to slog through two mind-numbing acts with insufferable music (and I'm fond of musicals, mind you) and unlikeable characters before the semi-interesting final act.
Rated 19 Jan 2013
90
90th
Hyper indulgent as it embraces the musical genre so enthusiastically, and yet at the same time it is so intelligent and emotionally mature. The ending is incredibly moving and at once both happy and sad, and to its credit not cynical. It understands that life doesn't work like it does in the movies, but it also understands that actually you can if you're lucky still have a happy ending. Just not necessarily the one you yearned for in your youth
Rated 17 Jun 2017
75
84th
It's easy to see why it's highly regarded: it's a beautifully filmed musical presented daringly as a kind of opera where actors sing their lines of dialogue in surprisingly well synched movements. Demy offers a rather ambiguous view of love, a class critique, and the melancholy vibe of the piece is quite affecting. All in all, it's a testament to the power of film form. The story is a rote young lovers tragedy, but it's transformed by a judicious use of color and sound.
Rated 18 Sep 2018
30
3rd
Felt like I was trying to watch a movie while a fire alarm was going off.
Rated 22 Jun 2015
75
54th
The music is wonderful but the singing of the mundane is irritating. Poor dialog can not be masked by jingles. Fortunately, the film is shot in such a dreamscape manner that something that would have otherwise derailed my enjoyment only prevented me from loving it. The final 25 minutes are fantastic.
Rated 08 Aug 2023
82
97th
This is the second of demy's films that I've watched and I'm already a fan.
Rated 16 Apr 2011
71
69th
French is best way to sing.
Rated 24 Dec 2017
81
80th
Revolutionary for its time and still quite striking today (I've seen many musicals and can't think of one sung quite like this). The story of Parapluies is almost too simple, but the way it's conveyed through ordinary homely scenes and plenty of dialogue delivered in sing-song tones, somehow makes it work. Of course it owes a lot to the charismatic performances of young Deneuve and young Castelnuovo, who became as iconic to French cinema as Sandy & Danny to Americans. A pleasure to experience.
Rated 24 Sep 2020
75
47th
A realist drama disguised as a musical. It is singular in the sense that all of the dialogue is sung from start to finish. The photography and choreography were both exquisite, and so were the films vibrant colors. The films plot was overly predictable right up until it's conclusion - which caught me unprepared and made me reevaluate my perception of it. Unfortunately The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, though charming and possessed of obvious merit, failed to wholly captivate me.
Rated 28 Jul 2011
20
6th
I can't... I can't... I can't.
Rated 10 Apr 2023
71
24th
A frustrating watch for reasons that are almost entirely on me. Visuals are amazing, the music is good, performances killer, and while it starts off feeling a bit too light it quickly becomes fairly substantial, culminating in a truly perfect ending. But like…..why doesn’t it rhyme!!!!!! The sung-through thing is fine for me conceptually but it literally puts no effort into rhyming at all outside of an handful of moments and that bothered the heck out of me. I feel crazy.
Rated 26 Jan 2018
92
89th
Well, it turns out I am a fan of musicals. I had no idea. What a perfectly paced odyssey of love and loss and what once was and what could be. Not to mention the movie pops off the damn screen through a bright variety of colors and diverse sounds from a multitude of instruments.
Rated 21 Nov 2018
70
53rd
Geneviève Emery: "Absence is a funny thing. I feel like Guy left years ago. I look at this photo, and I forget what he really looks like. When I think of him, it's this photo that I see."
Rated 19 Dec 2008
88
76th
248
Rated 19 Sep 2023
80
71st
Müzikal filmlere çok bayılmasam da bir çok örneğini izlemişimdir ama bu filmdeki gibi tüüm senaryonun, her repliğin, bir ezgi eşliğinde, melodiye bağlanarak söylendiği "müzikal" türe hiç rast gelmedim, belki de vardır. Bu sebepten başlarda biraz sıktı, takibi zordu benim için ama hikaye ilerledikçe (Özellikle Guy'ın geri dönüşü sonrası) filmin içine girebildim tabiri caizse. Garip bir müzikal, yüzlerce kez işlenmiş bir konu ama yine de etkileyici, iyi bir film. Güzel de bitti ayrıca.
Rated 08 Aug 2017
90
93rd
Umbrellas has a couple of the most beautiful and recognizable tunes in cinema, as well as gorgeous visuals. While I'm not a huge fan of the singing of every mundane word, it grew on me. As for the story, halfway through I had doubts. Another over-romanticized tragedy of all-important teenage love, I thought. But while the film does turn tragic and Gena is insufferable, Guy comes through it in the tremendous final act. The final seconds were a lovely capstone and left me in tears.
Rated 29 May 2012
92
84th
cinematic love distilled
Rated 29 Apr 2021
75
70th
It is a beautiful story of unfulfilled love. The music and the set design is amazing; it really captures the France in 1950s fantasy. However, I didn't enjoy that every single conversation being in songs. Catherine Deneuvre is breath taking though.
Rated 08 May 2021
90
77th
Everything cranked up to a very saccharine eleven and then some.
Rated 28 Jun 2018
91
89th
So.many.pretty.colors
Rated 07 Feb 2017
4
74th
A formal masterwork, with its bittersweet melodies, candy colors, geometric patterns, and splendid choreography. Even if it operates largely on romantic tropes and demonstrates no tremendous insight into the condition of broken-heartedness, and in fact probably because of such simplicity, this is one of the great examples of cinema in the service of pure escapist fantasy.
Rated 11 Aug 2019
60
46th
I think the formula of this movie is what I usually dislike the most in musicals: songs for really superflous things (100% sung here) and also seems it's always the exactly same song/music for the whole 88 minutes, no matter they're buying an umbrella or declaring their deepest emotions. I don't feel I ended up humming the music out of joy but pure habit. I also wasn't very fond of the story that I just mildly enjoyed. Scenarios and photography were great, nicely filmed.
Rated 21 Jun 2018
88
66th
What a fucking rip.
Rated 13 Jan 2012
100
96th
watched: 2012, 2014
Rated 12 Aug 2018
75
68th
what kind of a happy ending is this? wha?
Rated 22 May 2016
20
12th
A dull story about characters I didn't care about singing tunelessly over muzak. Interesting wallpaper though.
Rated 10 Jan 2012
60
28th
Singing every line is quirky and definitely a good mood-setter. However, it can cause scenes to seem to drag, leading to a bit of restlessness whilst sitting through the more 'obvious' parts of the story. Part of the magic is probably also lost in translation. A sweet idea, with decent actors, but with a story that seems a little lacking.
Rated 21 Nov 2015
93
96th
Love is in the air. Channel it before it vanishes.
Rated 13 Aug 2015
100
99th
Everything I love about movies is here. It took me some time to give it full 100, but I truly believe nothing can compete with this story, these visuals and this music. P.S. If you love this too, especially for how heartbreaking it is, do yourself a favor and watch Lola; it will add another dimension and the Umbrellas story will crush you even more.
Rated 13 Jan 2009
80
84th
Colorful and sweet.
Rated 11 Nov 2021
80
88th
This is probably one of the most french movies on existence, entirely casted by supermodels. The colours, the magnificent colours! All the sets and the costumes are absolutely stunning, the cinematography is just *chef’s kiss* (I bet Wes Anderson loves this film). The singing, although it can be annoying for some, it’s just charming, with its delightful music that accompanies every scene perfectly. It’s not particularly remarkable story wise; not bad, just not that noteworthy
Rated 23 Dec 2012
30
7th
aralık 2012 & yabanci dilde pop-opera izlemenin dayanilmaz iskencesi.
Rated 08 Apr 2014
85
88th
In a reversal of conventional narrative wisdom, the simple story is the glue that holds together the direction, production design, and music, which is where the real feeling is. Here, style IS the substance. It's a brilliant and joyous celebration of what makes film special.
Rated 19 Oct 2021
80
74th
Not a huge fan of the actual music, but I really liked the front-to-back singing of the dialogue. The way that the story plays out was extremely my shit.
Rated 10 Jan 2011
80
78th
A lovely musical with great performances and a beautiful, overly romanticized milieu.
Rated 10 Jan 2020
7
73rd
The music is unremarkable but adds to the light feel of this, even though some of the themes are quite sad. But mostly remarkable for the beautiful colour palette.
Rated 20 Mar 2018
84
86th
With an unconventional style that belies its traditional love-and-marriage melodrama, THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG endures as a visionary piece of filmmaking. Jacques Demy doesn't direct this movie--he conducts it, precisely orchestrating the blocking, mise en scene, editing, and sound to create an alluring dreamworld that embraces cinematic artifice while demonstrating a very natural understanding of romance. Heightened, hyperreal, and yet also devastatingly naturalistic.
Rated 18 Mar 2017
80
72nd
Proto-Trapped In the Closet
Rated 04 Feb 2013
10
2nd
I detest musicals that have the actors singing every line of the script. Also, it is sung in French, so I must read subtitles. I found it quite painful to sit through this movie, despite it's having lovely actresses such as Catherine Deneuve. This is a story of lost love, but why did they have to make it so pretentious.
Rated 13 Jan 2010
90
80th
208
Rated 09 Sep 2012
75
57th
Why isn't the talk in every movie sung? The role of music is in no sense lifelike. Music is what life would have been like if Michel Legrand had been God. Legand is not Mahler or Brian Wilson or Billy Strayhorn. But he may be the most natural music writer for the movies there ever was. He writes music where we need the dark to hide our trashy joy and our shameless tears. And for Cherbourg, with Demy doing the very agile lyrics, he simply opened up a new way for film to go.
Rated 20 Nov 2021
55
44th
la la land is better
Rated 28 Jan 2024
77
45th
The singing was repetitive and mostly irritating; the 60s horn section cool, swinging and redemptive. The colours, unbelievable, a clear highlight. The plot, much better once Guy comes back on the scene... and an ending for the wise if not for the incurable romantics.
Rated 08 Jan 2009
95
80th
Brilliant mise-en-scene and concept and color. The singing would be better if it was more structure and the melodrama drags down the presentation.
Rated 25 Jun 2017
39
19th
badtrip.
Rated 15 Jul 2022
84
82nd
An absolutely delightful and charming film of great originality. The dialogue is sung for no clear reason, but it somehow elevates what is a very simple, mundane story to something else, especially when paired with the bright, colorful sets and actors who are totally bought into the vision. Vision is a good word for it, because it's a film that needed a visionary to make. It sounds completely absurd on its face, but with all the elements together and actually on film, it just works.
Rated 01 Jul 2019
2
5th
Perdede, Zorlu.
Rated 27 Jun 2012
81
66th
The visual aspect of the film is simply a delight, while Demy's camera floats through brilliantly staged scenes populated only with characters singing their dialogue. Underneath the charm, however, stands a recognition of continued class difference, one that exists through the film from beginning to end. This adds a note of social significance, making the tragedy of lost love that much more poignant.
Rated 14 Jan 2019
70
37th
Good film to talk about afterwards, with a strong score encapsulating all emotion, whereas the dialogues are strikingly mundane. Perhaps apart from the end scene, everything that happens is so textbook that it's painfully predictable. That caused my investment in the characters to be lacking enough to see the outcome as simply the best way for all involved.
Rated 30 Nov 2011
89
78th
#214
Rated 12 Jun 2010
7
80th
Unique and unforgettable with an exceptional color scheme, but the story is entirely predictable.
Rated 14 Sep 2010
74
38th
A fun, light, and whimsical musical about a young couple that fall in love, get separated by the army, and go about their lives. With the set being covered in bright 1960s colors and fabrics, it's hard not to love the eye-candy. The acting is fine for a musical, and I thought it is a good recommendation for anyone who is learning french. Song structure is silly as the plot, with characters simply singing conversations instead of proper (aka rhyming) songs.

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