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Cyrano de Bergerac (1990 film)

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Wikipedia article




'Cyrano de Bergerac' is a 1990 French period comedy-drama film directed by Jean-Paul Rappeneau and based on the 1897 play of the same name by Edmond Rostand, adapted by Jean-Claude Carrire and Rappeneau. It stars Grard Depardieu, Anne Brochet and Vincent Perez. The film was a co-production between companies in France and Hungary.

The film is the first feature film version of Rostand's original play in colour, and the second theatrical film version of the play in the original French. It is also considerably more lavish and more faithful to the original than previous film versions of the play. The film had 4,732,136 admissions in France.

The film and the performance of Grard Depardieu won numerous awards, notably 10 of the Csar Awards of 1991.

Subtitles are used for the non-French market; the English-language version uses Anthony Burgess's translation of the text, which uses five-beat lines with a varying number of syllables and a regular couplet rhyming scheme, in other words, a sprung rhythm. Although he sustains the five-beat rhythm through most of the play, Burgess sometimes allows this structure to break deliberately: in Act V, he allows it to collapse completely, creating free verse.

In 2010, 'Cyrano de Bergerac' was ranked number 43 in 'Empire' magazine's "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema".

Plot



Gascon poet and swashbuckler Cyrano de Bergerac is self-conscious about his enormous nose, but pretends to be proud of it. He is admired and respected by many people for his bravery and good swordsmanship. He madly loves his cousin, the beautiful Roxane; however, he is sure that she will reject him because of his appearance. To elevate himself in her eyes, he interferes with a play being staged at the Htel du Bourgogne, in Paris, and wins a duel with a marquis.

In the second act of the play and film, Cyrano meets with Roxane at her request. He is crushed when Roxane tells him she is infatuated with Christian de Neuvillette, a handsome and dashing new recruit to the Cadets de Gascogne (the military unit in which Cyrano is serving). However, Cyrano learns that Christian is tongue-tied when speaking with women. Seeing an opportunity to vicariously declare his love to Roxane, Cyrano approaches Christian with a proposal: Cyrano will write the love letters, and Christian will woo Roxane with them. Christian agrees.

Cyrano aids Christian, writing heartfelt love letters and poems. Roxane begins to appreciate Christian, not only for his good looks but also his apparent eloquence. She eventually falls in love with him. But the Comte de Guiche, an arrogant and exceptionally powerful older nobleman, also has designs on Roxane. Roxane and Cyrano thwart De Guiche's attempt to visit Roxane by arranging a quick secret marriage between Roxane and Christian. In revenge, De Guiche orders his company of cadets--including Cyrano and Christian--to report immediately for military duty in the Siege of Arras against the Spanish.

The siege is harsh and brutal: the Cadets de Gascogne are starving. Christian does not know that Cyrano escapes over enemy lines twice each day to deliver a love letter written by Cyrano himself but signed with Christian's name, sent to Roxane. These letters draw Roxane out from the city of Paris to the war front. Although she has come to visit Christian, she admits to him that she has fallen in love with the author's soul, and would love the author even if he were ugly. Christian tries to find out whether Roxane loves him or Cyrano, and asks Cyrano to find out. However, during the subsequent battle, Christian is mortally wounded. The scene ends with the French returning to the battle.

In the final scene of the play and film, fourteen years later, Roxane has entered a convent and retired from the world. Cyrano has made many enemies with his writings; he is still free, but now poor. During this time, Cyrano has faithfully visited Roxane every week, never declaring his love. On this day, his enemies attack and mortally injure him. Cyrano nevertheless visits Roxane at the convent. When she mentions Christian's last letter, sensing his own mortality, Cyrano asks if he can read it. Roxane gives him the letter, which he reads movingly. Just before Cyrano dies, Roxane realizes that she has loved him all along.

Cast



* Grard Depardieu as Cyrano de Bergerac

* Anne Brochet as Roxane

* Vincent Perez as Christian de Neuvillette

* Jacques Weber as Comte Antoine de Guiche

* Roland Bertin as Ragueneau

* Philippe Morier-Genoud as Le Bret

* Pierre Maguelon as Carbon de Castle-Jaloux

* Sandrine Kiberlain as Sister Colette

* Josiane Stolru as the Duenna

* Philippe Volter as Vicomte de Valvert

* Jean-Marie Winling as Lignire

* Louis Navarre as The Bore

* Gabriel Monnet as Montfleury

* Franois Mari as Bellerose

* Anatole Delalande as The child

* Alain Rimoux as The father

* Michel Fau as Ragueneau's Poet

Reception



On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 100% based on , with a weighted average rating of 7.85/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Love and hope soar in 'Cyrano De Bergerac', an immensely entertaining romance featuring Gerard Depardieu at his peak." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 79 based on 19 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Roger Ebert from the 'Chicago Sun Times' awarded the film three out of four stars. In his review on the film, Ebert wrote, "'Cyrano de Bergerac' is a splendid movie not just because it tells its romantic story, and makes it visually delightful, and centers it on Depardieu, but for a better reason: The movie acts as if it believes this story. Depardieu is not a satirist - not here, anyway. He plays Cyrano on the level, for keeps."

Author and film critic Leonard Maltin awarded the film three and a half out of four stars, calling it "the definitive screen version of the Edmond Rostand perennial". In his review, Maltin praised the film's staging of scenes, while also noting that the film somewhat faltered during the finale by being overextended.

Accolades



The film was nominated for five Academy Awards at the 1990 ceremony, this marked the second time that an actor had been nominated for Best Actor for his portrayal of Cyrano de Bergerac (the first time was in 1950, when Jos Ferrer won the award for his performance in the English-language version of the film).

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

|-

! Award

! Category

! Nominee(s)

! Result

|-

| rowspan="5"| Academy Awards

| colspan="2"| Best Foreign Language Film

|

|-

| Best Actor

| Grard Depardieu

|

|-

| Best Art Direction

| Ezio Frigerio and Jacques Rouxel

|

|-

| Best Costume Design

| Franca Squarciapino

|

|-

| Best Makeup

| Michle Burke and Jean-Pierre Eychenne

|

|-

| rowspan="8"| British Academy Film Awards

| Best Film Not in the English Language

| Rene Cleitman, Michel Seydoux and Jean-Paul Rappeneau

|

|-

| Best Actor in a Leading Role

| Grard Depardieu

|

|-

| Best Adapted Screenplay

| Jean-Paul Rappeneau and Jean-Claude Carrire

|

|-

| Best Cinematography

| Pierre Lhomme

|

|-

| Best Costume Design

| Franca Squarciapino

|

|-

| Best Make-Up Artist

| Jean-Pierre Eychenne and Michle Burke

|

|-

| Best Original Film Score

| Jean-Claude Petit

|

|-

| Best Production Design

| Ezio Frigerio

|

|-

| British Society of Cinematographers

| Best Cinematography in a Theatrical Feature Film

| Pierre Lhomme

|

|-

| rowspan="3"| Cannes Film Festival

| Palme d'Or

| Jean-Paul Rappeneau

|

|-

| Best Actor

| Grard Depardieu

|

|-

| Technical Grand Prize

| Pierre Lhomme

|

|-

| rowspan="13"| Csar Awards

| Best Film

| rowspan="2"| Jean-Paul Rappeneau

|

|-

| Best Director

|

|-

| Best Actor

| Grard Depardieu

|

|-

| Best Actress

| Anne Brochet

|

|-

| Best Supporting Actor

| Jacques Weber

|

|-

| Most Promising Actor

| Vincent Prez

|

|-

| Best Writing

| Jean-Claude Carrire and Jean-Paul Rappeneau

|

|-

| Best Cinematography

| Pierre Lhomme

|

|-

| Best Costume Design

| Franca Squarciapino

|

|-

| Best Editing

| Nolle Boisson

|

|-

| Best Original Music

| Jean-Claude Petit

|

|-

| Best Production Design

| Ezio Frigerio

|

|-

| Best Sound

| Pierre Gamet and Dominique Hennequin

|

|-

| Csar Awards

| Csar des Csars

| rowspan="2"| Jean-Paul Rappeneau

|

|-

| Chicago Film Critics Association Awards

| Best Foreign Film

|

|-

| rowspan="2"| Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards

| colspan="2"| Best Foreign Language Film

|

|-

| Best Actor

| Grard Depardieu

|

|-

| rowspan="2"| David di Donatello Awards

| Best Foreign Film

| Jean-Paul Rappeneau

|

|-

| Best Foreign Actor

| Grard Depardieu

|

|-

| rowspan="6"| European Film Awards

| colspan="2"| Best Film

|

|-

| Best Actor

| Grard Depardieu

|

|-

| Best Actress

| Anne Brochet

|

|-

| Best Cinematography

| Pierre Lhomme

|

|-

| Best Film Composer

| Jean-Claude Petit

|

|-

| Best Production Design

| Ezio Frigerio and Franca Squarciapino

|

|-

| Golden Globe Awards

| colspan="2"| Best Foreign Language Film

|

|-

| Guild of German Art House Cinemas

| Best Foreign Film

| Jean-Paul Rappeneau

|

|-

| rowspan="2"| London Film Critics Circle Awards

| colspan="2"| Foreign Language Film of the Year

|

|-

| Actor of the Year

| Grard Depardieu

|

|-

| Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards

| colspan="2"| Best Foreign Language Film

|

|-

| rowspan="3"| Nastro d'Argento

| European Silver Ribbon

| Jean-Paul Rappeneau

|

|-

| Best Costume Design

| Franca Squarciapino

|

|-

| Best Production Design

| Ezio Frigerio

|

|-

| rowspan="2"| National Board of Review Awards

| colspan="2"| Top Five Foreign Language Films

|

|-

| colspan="2"| Best Foreign Language Film

|

|-

| New York Film Critics Circle Awards

| colspan="2"| Best Foreign Language Film

|

|-

| Toronto International Film Festival

| People's Choice Award

| Jean-Paul Rappeneau

|

|-

| Turkish Film Critics Association Awards

| colspan="2"| Best Foreign Film

|

|}

Home media



'Cyrano de Bergerac' was released on DVD by Umbrella Entertainment in May 2005 as part of a collection with the 1950 version. The DVD is compatible with all region codes and includes special features such as the theatrical trailer, Umbrella Entertainment trailers, talent biographies, an interview with Grard Depardieu and a Roger Ebert review. In February 2009 an Academy Award edition was released by Umbrella Entertainment.

See also



* List of submissions to the 63rd Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film

* List of French submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

Notes



References




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