Review of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) by Kenneth L — 30 May 2010

I doubt there are any other movies in the world quite like this one. It's a French musical in which every single word is sung. Even the mailman sings, "Good morning," when he pops up. The musical score is always playing; there are not three seconds that go by without music in this movie.

The story is a simple and melodramatic one about young lovers separated when the boy is drafted into the army, but it goes in directions you might not necessarily expect. The final scene is wonderful and really sad.

The characters all apparently had the most obnoxious interior decorators in history, as all of the walls in their shops and houses are bright mixtures of pink, green, and yellow. The movie certainly has a distinctive look to it - the sets are interesting, but I wouldn't want to live in those places.

A beautiful young Catherine Deneuve stars as Genevieve. The acting is good in that meoldramatic early 1960s way. It is strange to hear something sung in French and then see it subtitled in English; it highlights the oddness of singing things like, "Here is the mail.

" But, it's hardly the movie's fault I don't speak French. If you enjoy musicals at all, I would recommend this as one of the more interestingly unusual musicals ever.