Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		5.0

Les Parapluies de Cherbourg Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov December 15, 2013

Winner of the prestigious Palme d'Or Award at the Cannes Film Festival, Jacques Demy's "Les Parapluies de Cherbourg" a.k.a. "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" (1964) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French distributors Cine-Tamaris Video/Arte Video. The supplemental features on the disc include trailers for the film; extracts from archival interviews with Jacques Demy and Catherine Deneuve; archival video interview actress Virginie Ledoyen; extract from Agnes Varda's documentary The Universe of Jacques Demy; and more. The release also arrives with a 72-page illustrated booklet with writings on the film and technical information about the new 2K restoration. In French and English. In French, with optional English and French SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

"Je t'aime, je t'aime, je t'aime..."

This wonderful film directed by Jacques Demy pays tribute to the classic Hollywood musicals. It has one of the greatest scores ever composed for a French film by the legendary Michel Legrand.

Like an opera, the film is divided into multiple acts, each focusing on a specific time period. In Act I, titled The Departure, the young lovers Geneviève (Catherine Deneuve, Belle de jour, Contract in Blood) and Guy (Nino Castelnuovo, Camille 2000, Rocco and His Brothers) plan to create a family but face the disapproval of Genevieve’s mother Madame Emery (Anne Vernon, The Woman Is a Stranger, Il Generale della Rovere), who runs a small umbrella shop. Madame Emery does not like Guy because he is an ordinary car mechanic who cannot possibly offer the type of life Genevieve deserves. As the film progresses, it is also revealed that Madame Emery is also facing a serious financial dilemma: She has to make a large payment to keep her shop but does not have the money. A possible solution to Madame Emery’s financial troubles emerges when the young, wealthy and single diamond dealer Roland Cassard (Marc Michel, Lola, Le Trou) agrees to purchase her jewels. But he later on visits her shop, the dealer also makes it clear that he is interested the beautiful Genevieve. Meanwhile, Guy is drafted for two years by the army. Act I ends at Cherbourg’s train station where Genevieve vows to wait for Guy.

In Act II, titled The Absence, Genevieve reveals to her mother that she is pregnant. At the same time, Roland appears again and professes his love for Genevieve. With hardly any news from Guy, Madame Emery convinces the confused and insecure Genevieve that the best thing for her would be to marry Roland. Later on, the overjoyed Roland vows to raise Guy’s child as his own.

In Act III, The Return, Guy comes home and discovers that no one is waiting for him. He starts drinking and spending the money he has saved in the local brothels. Eventually, the young and beautiful Madeleine (Ellen Farner), who has been taking care of Guy’s sick aunt, offers to help him rebuild his life.

The film is simple but enormously moving. Key sequences from it, such as the one where Genevieve looks at the train that is taking Guy away from her, are still vividly remembered by many who saw The Umbrellas of Cherbourg when it was first screened theatrically. The main music theme is now also legendary.

The entire dialog in the film is sung. Even the casual exchanges have a terrific rhythm that supports the film’s structure. The music also enhances the dramatic atmosphere without unnecessarily prolonging important sequences.

Another aspect of the film’s structure that impresses is the brilliant use of light, shadow, and color. The bright and vivid colors are breathtakingly beautiful, frequently creating the impression that one is actually viewing an unusual collection of restored oil paintings, not a feature film. In many sequences, natural light is also carefully used to better expose the richness of these brilliant colors.

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg was lensed by cinematographer Jean Rabier, who also collaborated with Agnes Varda, director Demy’s widow (the New Wave classic Cleo from 5 to 7, Le Bonheur). The film’s production designer was the late Bernard Evein (Demy's The Young Girls of Rochefort, Jean Luc-Godard’s A Woman Is A Woman, Louis Malle’s Zazie dans le metro).

Les Parapluies de Cherbourg Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Jacques Demy's The Umbrellas of Cherbourg arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French distributors Cine-Tamaris Video/Arte Video.

Recently restored in 2K (with the 2K scan done on Digimage-Classics' SCANITY scanner), Jacques Demy's The Umbrellas of Cherbourg looks fabulous on Blu-ray. Image depth and clarity are simply outstanding. Unsurprisingly, the numerous close-ups throughout the film look very impressive. The panoramic shots also boast excellent fluidity. During the first half of the film, shadow definition is also substantially improved (this is where most of the darker sequences are). What impresses the most, however, are the dramatic improvements in the area of color reproduction. There are entire sections of the film which now have a completely different vibe because of the various improvements. Balance, saturation and stability are simply terrific. As a result even minor changes in the way natural light is captured by the camera immediately make an impression (see screencapture #4). Furthermore, there are absolutely no traces of problematic degraining corrections. Compromising sharpening adjustments also have not been applied. Needless to say, from start to finish the film has an enormously satisfying organic look. Finally, there are no stability issues. Also, there are no scratches, debris, cuts, damage marks, or warps to report in this review. All in all, this is the very best restoration and presentation of a Jacques Demy film to emerge from Cine-Tamaris Video/Arte Video that I have seen to date. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Les Parapluies de Cherbourg Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.0 and French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0.

I viewed the film with the French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track and later on tested a few random sequences with the French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.0. Depth and clarity are enormously impressive. There is a terrific range of nuanced dynamics as well, though you should not expect to have the muscles of your audio system tested. The beauty of the new lossless track is in its ability to very effectively capture the unique qualities of the voices and during the duets maintain excellent separation between them. The balance between the music and the singing is also terrific. For the record, there no audio dropouts or distortions to report in this review. The English translation is very good.

Les Parapluies de Cherbourg Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Chronique d'une restauration (2013) - a look at the new 2K restoration of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Included here are short comments by Agnes Varda, Rosalie Varda-Demy, director Mathieu Demy, and Thierry Delannoy (from Digimage), as well as before-and-after comparisons. In French, not subtitled. (6 min).

• Il etait une fois...(extraits) - short featurette focusing on the production history of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Included in it are short interviews with Agnes Varda, composer Michel Legrand, Rosalie Varda-Demy, film historian Benjamin Stora, and critic and producer Gerard Vaugeois, amongst others. In French, not subtitled. (11 min).

• L'Univers de Jacques Demy (extrait) - an extract from Agnes Varda's documentary The Universe of Jacques Demy. In French, not subtitled. (8 min).

• Le film vu par Virginie Ledoyen (2008) - in this short video interview, actress Virginie Ledoyen (In All Innocence, Farewell, My Queen) discusses The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and explains how the film has influenced her. In French, not subtitled. (4 min).

• Prix Louis Delluc (1964) - in 1964, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg won the prestigious Prix Louis Delluc. Included here is archival footage from the ceremony with short comments from Michel Legrand, Anne Vernon and Catherine Denueve. In French, not subtitled. (4 min).

• Catherine Deneuve et Les Parapluies (1978) - an extract from an archival video interview with Catherine Deneuve. The interview was conducted by Carlos de Los Lianos for TF1 on September 18, 1978. In French, not subtitled. (2 min).

• Jacques Demy et Mag Bodard (1985) - an extract from an archival video interview with director Jacques Demy. The interview was conducted by Jacques Meny for FR3/France 3 on May 14, 1985. In French, not subtitled. (3 min).

• Bande-annonce (1964) - original theatrical trailer for The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. In French, not subtitled. (3 min).

• Bande-annonce (2013) - trailer for the newly restored The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. In French, not subtitled. (2 min).

• Collection Demy - a collection of trailers for the films included in the 12DVD box set Cine-Tamaris Video/Arte Video released in France a few years ago. (6 min).

• Booklet - 72-page illustrated booklet with writings on the film and technical information about the new 2K restoration. In French and English.

Les Parapluies de Cherbourg Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I sincerely hope that the same team that is responsible for this wonderful new restoration of Jacques Demy's legendary The Umbrellas of Cherbourg will also work on the restoration of the French director's excellent Bay of Angels. The new restoration is currently available on an English-friendly Blu-ray only in France, but there have been speculations that Criterion will be bringing it to the United States. If you can play Region-B releases, you don't want to miss Cine-Tamaris Video/Arte Video's release. It is one of the year's very best. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.