Review of Cyrano de Bergerac (1990) by Jim H — 04 Nov 2014

Earning Gerard Depardieu an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, Cyrano de Bergerac sounded like a great chance to experience world cinema.

As Cyrano de Bergerac is an adaptation of a play turned into a film, it has limited appeal to me because I am not very big on theatrical productions. And plus with all the glamourous focus on imagery, it largely seems like the film is a costume drama which similarly is not a particular genre I am fond of. But the passion in the film is undeniable. Despite being a costume drama which is largely Shakespearian and built around a tale of tragic romance, Cyrano de Bergerac takes all the best elements from these aspects and crafts a story which is touching and sentimental, if somewhat long and slow.

Cyrano de Bergerac is a film which you'd think I wouldn't like, but I loved it. Despite the romantic premise being a rather overused one, considering that it came from 1897 you can't complain too much as it being transferred into modern day cinema is done quite effectively. A lot of what is told in the story is really a touching sentiment, and even though the story in the film seems a bit repetitive, there is a lot of love in it. Director Jean-Paul Rappeneau really pours his heart into the film and succeeds in making it a magnificent spectacle of French cinema as well as being a touching dramatic piece. He makes use of a strong script that brings along a lot of the insightful concepts from the original play and turns them into well placed explorations of characters and emotions. The script itself is brilliant because it brings a lot of strong characters to the film and then puts them in a variation of emotionally complex situations which Jean-Paul Rappeneau maintains with ease. He puts a lot of heart into the film which ensures that the material flourishes and ends up rich in atmosphere, making it both an enjoyable viewing and a dramatically powerful one.

As an adaptation of a stage play, Cyrano de Bergerac is brilliant. While the film has enough amazing visual elements to be a grand spectacle of a film, the cast in the film all follow a traditionally theatrical style of acting. It is difficult for a film to maintain a large scale as a focus on its political context and also a small scale to put emphasis on the relevance of the characters and their relationships, but it ends up directed to easy success under the firm hand of Jean-Paul Rappeneau. He makes it a beautiful film, and the fact that it did not win the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language film when it is so worthy of it and scored many other nominations really comes as a surprise to me. It must have had some serious competition in 1990.

Cyrano de Bergerac is also packed with memorable imagery thanks to the beautiful nature of the scenery and fine production design, as well as the Academy Award winning costumes. It all helps to easily establish the time period and setting of the film easily, and it is all captured with incredibly well placed cinematography. Cyrano de Bergerac is a magnificent visual spectacle which helps to elevate the film beyond some of its narrative limitations. The musical score of the film is also wonderful as it gives the feature a large scaled atmosphere and it dramatizes a lot of the moments really well. The entire film is excellently stylish, and it justifies adapting the text to cinematic screen really easily. Cyrano de Bergerac is a magnificent example of a great play adaptation which is on par with Kenneth Branagh's excellent adaptation of Henry V from the prior year with stylish and dramatic power which comes fiercley close.

But one of the most truly brilliant aspects of Cyrano de Bergerac is the leading performance of Gerard Depardieu.

Gerard Depardieu truly commands the screen in Cyrano de Bergerac. His performance is ripe with excellent theatrical skill along the lines of Shakespearian quality, yet with a more humane level of subtlety to it. He crafts an engaging character out of protagonist because you can tell that he just truly loves the role. He anchors the heart of the film with his remarkable performance in the titular role. It is a truly marvellous performance because it is so beautifully theatrical with incredibly dramatic line delivery and physical involvement that it is unforgettable. In a performance easily worthy of an Academy Award nomination, Gerard Depardieu delivers a performance which is just magnificent. Whenever he is present on screen he finds a way to draw audiences in because he brings a lot of sympathy to the role, and his line delivery is consistently energetic with physical movements. He says his words with maximum involvement in the role to the extent that it is practically poetic, and it is perfectly theatrical without being too melodramatic to pass on cinematic terms. Gerard Depardieu's performance is one of the greatest things about Cyrano de Bergerac which ensures that it is touching on a human level and memorable for its cast.

Vincent Perez also makes a memorable effort. As the young and naive Christian de Neuvillette, Vincent Perez has a lot of confident charisma in his part during the right scenes while maintaining appropriate uncertainty in others. He stands strong in the role with a natural charm and maintains a strong chemistry with Gerard Depardieu. His involvement in the role is determined and well spirited which makes him a truly genial presence, so he makes a fine addition to the cast in Cyrano de Bergerac with his handsome demeanour rendering him a likable figure.

Anne Brochet also provides a sympathetic performance.

So despite its extensive length and slow pace, Cyrano de Bergerac maintains all the finest dramatic elements of its theatrical roots while having enough style to succeed as a cinematic spectacle which renders it a well-acted and colourful costume drama led by a magnificent performance from Gerard Depardieu.