I will never forgive you for the glowing review that lead to my sitting though the noxious Johnny English, Mr. Scott, but I wanted to thank you for recommending Umbrellas of Cherbourg today. I’m listening to the soundtrack now. Thanks to you.

23 replies on “A.O. Scott on Umbrellas of Cherbourg”

  2. You needed a movie critic to suggest Umbrellas of Cherbourg?
    Well then let me tell you, there’s this terrific picture called Citizen Kane, you should Netflix that next.

  4. Also, it’s fun to get into arguments with doofuses who think that The Young Girls of Rochefort is superior to Umbrellas of Cherbourg.

  8. @4, I like “Young Girls” much more. It’s my favorite movie, and by far my favorite soundtrack. Superior? I dunno; I dunno, or care, what “superior” means, only what gives me more pleasure. And the awesome dance routines and recurring interlocked song themes are spectacular. There was a two-CD set of the soundtrack a couple of years ago that really brought out the full spectrum of wonderfulness, but all you really need is to see the colors of the clothes on the square, the pastel dresses and the white jeans and the electric sunshine. I won’t say a word against “Umbrellas” but “Young Girls” has so much bounce it’s impossible for me not to respond to it.

  11. I will admit that I derive great pleasure from Rochefort during those times when the Gene Kelly in me is bouncing around. They are both obviously good movies. I was mainly joking about the doofuses part.

  13. Everyone Knows It But We’re Going to Have to Keep Saying It Until Something Changes.

    If polygamy were legal and regulated we wouldn’t have to waste money—money we don’t have—and police time raiding polygamy compounds in Texas and Arizona.

    Don’t you think, Danny?

    And which is the more pressing moral issue;
    denial of marriage equality
    or
    denial of the right to get legally stoned?

    But go ahead, keep focusing your attention on dogs and pot.

    Fuck your selective self-serving hypocritical moral outrage.

    Fuck it and shove it up your ass…

  14. I discovered this movie thanks to the classic Futurama episode “Jurassic Bark.” I happened to notice that “Parapluies” was coming up on TCM and made a point to catch it.

    I have to say I’m kind of impressed how pop culture can lead you to discovered half-forgotten classics. Family Guy led me to seek out “Anchors Aweigh” after they redid the Gene Kelly-Jerry Mouse scene (and here I had thought “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” was breaking entirely new ground). Of course, the depressing thing about watching a movie like that is seeing just how far classical music has fallen out of mainstream culture since 1945.

  15. WHAT WHAT WHAT?? You’ve never seen it??? Please return the toaster ovens and your ID card have the unicorn escort you out of the garden.

  16. My favorite moment: when CdN sings to her mother that it seems like such a short time since he’s been gone, but now when she tries to remember him she finds herself remembering a picture of him.
    Then there’s the train pulling out of the station in the rain at the end of Act I. If that doesn’t make you cry you haven’t had enough to drink.

  20. I suppose you all probably know this anyway, but just in case… the director’s widow is the amazing French documentary maker Agnes Varda, and after his death, she made a most beautiful film of his memoirs. It’s called Jacquot de Nantes. It’s brilliant and beautiful, so if you have a chance to see it, I give it the highest recommendation. (BTW, he was also an animator, as Varda’s film mentions.)

  21. If you love Umbrellas, you should definitely check out one his other films, “Donkey Skin”. It’s Demy’s take on a classic French fairytale, with Catherine Deneuve as the naive princess.

  22. Now you’ve got to see LOVE SONGS with Louis Garrell. It’s an updating of Umbrellas in a way. With a bit of delicious non-hetero behavior. It’s slow (it’s French), so don’t give up before the blond boy shows up!

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