Review of Cyrano de Bergerac (1950) by Steve G — 16 Feb 2011

What a wonderfully told story.

Ferrer's performance is nearly perfect & absolutely deserving of his Oscar win as Cyrano. It had depth, but it didn't take itself too seriously. There was almost a slight self-deprication about the material that lended tremendously to the humour. Yet the screenplay was extremely well written. Wasn't crazy about the Roxanne actress though.

But I was hoping for a more uplifting ending. Tragedies are all well & good, but this had the potential to be a monumental love story & I think that the unfortunate ending somewhat prevented that. Too many questions unanswered in a satisfactory way. Did Roxanne not warn Cyrano as she said she would? And what of Christian's fraudulent memory now? A little ambiguous? So no one really wins, except for poor Christian who believed he was chosen, having died believing another lie. Too bleak for me. That said, the final scene was very poetically done.