Tuesday's screenings

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Jaques Demy, 1964)

The musical has always the number one form of cinematic escapism, you only have to think about it's popularity during the depression and world war II.

But here we have something else entirely. This a realist melodrama disguised as a classical Hollywood era musical with all the trimmings... dynamic colour, inspired art direction and of course song and dance numbers. But the story subverts all that we see from Hollywood's musicals. This is pure tragedy where a young woman (Catherine Deneuve) must choose between the mechanic she loves and a more financially secure gem-dealer. The film also subverts classical motifs by have having every single line of dialogue sung, there is no speech.

The film was a worldwide smash hit when originally released, going far beyond any expectations. This maybe because of how it breaks up the classical build of a form that was still popular but getting stale. The film got a wide range of awards and award-nominations, including five Oscar nominations and the Golden Palm at Cannes.