The Umbrellas of Cherbourg 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		5.0

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov May 11, 2025

Jacques Demy's "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" (1964) arrives on 4K Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the release include Marie Genin and Serge July's documentary film "Once Upon a Time... The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" (2008); audio excerpts from archival interviews with Catherine Deneuve and Michel Legrand; archival interview with director Jacques Demy and Michel Legrand; restoration demonstration; and more. In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

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).

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Criterion's release of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is a 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack. The 4K Blu-ray is Region-Free. However, the Blu-ray is Region-A "locked".

Please note that all screencaptures included with this article are taken from the 4K Blu-ray and downscaled to 1080p. Therefore, they do not accurately reflect the quality of the 4K content on the 4K Blu-ray disc.

In America, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg made its high-definition debut a little over a decade ago, with this Blu-ray release, included in The Essential Jacques Demy box set. The first Blu-ray release introduced a wonderful 2K restoration of the film. This combo pack introduces a new 4K restoration of the film, completed under the supervision of Mathieu Demy. The 4K restoration is available only on the 4K Blu-ray disc. The Blu-ray disc in the combo pack retains the 2K restoration. In native 4K, the 4K restoration cannot be viewed with Dolby Vision or HDR grades.

I performed various comparisons between the 4K and 2K restorations to be very comfortable with my take on both, as I am certain that many people who love The Umbrellas of Cherbourg will want a clear answer whether they should consider upgrading their Blu-ray release of it. I have a clear answer, but you should keep in mind that it is based entirely on what I saw on my system.

First, in native 4K, the entire film again looks strikingly healthy. This is hardly surprising, considering that it looked immaculate after it was restored in 2K as well. There are no drastic surprises in the area of color reproduction. However, the 4K and 2K restorations do not have identical color schemes. The discrepancy is not big, but trained eyes will notice that some areas look slightly different. On my system, on the 4K restoration, I also noticed various fluctuations in the gamma levels, which I suspect are responsible for some of the noticeable discrepancies. They tend to be small. However, once I started performing direct comparisons with the 2K restoration, I could see areas where the 2K restoration routinely produced more vibrant and even sharper visuals. If you have a very big screen, and you play the 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray discs in this combo pack, I think you will easily see the difference, too. That the 4K restoration is not presented with Dolby Vision or HDR grades is irrelevant, as neither would have affected the discrepancies I mentioned. (I still think that the 2K restoration is wonderfully graded). I suspect that when the 4K master was prepared, something was not set properly, and this is why in various areas the 2K restoration performs better. Occasionally, I feel that even grain exposure is affected because a lot of visuals that the 2K restoration produces are sharper and more attractive.

If you have the previous Blu-ray release, I think that you already have the best presentation of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. The entire film looks great on it, and while comparing the 4K and 2K restorations, I could not see anything to convince me that the former brings in meaningful improvements. On the contrary, on my system, I thought that the native 4K presentation of the 4K restoration was a minor downgrade.

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this release: French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and French LPCM 1.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The original Blu-ray release of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg had only a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track (a container for a 5.0 track), which was wonderful. Now, the 4K Blu-ray release has a LPCM 1.0 track, also beautifully restored. You can experiment with both. I quite like the 5.1 track because it brings richness and a wider dynamic field that are great. The iconic soundtrack is just as effective on the Mono track, but in some areas it cannot open certain scenes as well as the 5.1 track.

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

4K BLU-RAY DISC

• Bonus Features - there are no bonus features on the 4K Blu-ray disc.

BLU-RAY DISC

• Once Upon a Time... The Umbrellas of Cherbourg - this wonderful 2008 documentary film by Marie Genin and Serge July focuses on the production history of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and its timeless appeal. The documentary contains clips from archival interviews with Jacques Demy, composer Michel Legrand, director Agnes Varda, costume designer Jacqueline Moreau, director Bernard Toublanc-Michel (Singapore, Singapore; Evil Pleasure), and Catherine Deneuve, amongst others. The documentary also appears on StudioCanal's release. In English and French, with optional English subtitles where necessary. (55 min).

• Rodney Hill - in this new video interview, film scholar Rodney Hill (Lawrence Herbert School of Communication/Hofstra University) discusses the New Wave and traditional French qualities of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, and the evolution of Jacques Demy's directing style after Lola. The interview was conducted exclusively for Criterion in 2014. In English, not subtitled. (23 min).

• Cinepanorama - presented here is an archival interview with director Jacques Demy and legendary composer Michel Legrand, which was conducted for the French television program Cinepanorama in 1964. The French director explains how The Umbrellas of Cherbourg came to exist and talks about his relationship with Agnes Varda, while Michel Legrand discusses the film's unique score. In French, with optional English subtitles. (12 min).

• Michel Legrand at the National Film Theatre - presented here is an audio excerpt from 1991 in which Michel Legrand discusses his musical career, the impact the works of different classical composers had on his style, and his collaborations with Jacques Demy. In English, not subtitled. (27 min).

• Catherine Deneuve at the National Film Theatre - presented here is an audio excerpt from 1983 in which Catherine Deneuve explains how she became an actress, and discusses her work with Jacques Demy on The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and the film's unique score. In English, not subtitled. (12 min).

• Restoration Demonstration - an in-depth 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, with optional English subtitles. (7 min).

• Trailer - trailer for the new restoration of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. In French, with imposed English subtitles. (2 min, 1080p).

• Leaflet - an illustrated leaflet featuring Jim Ridley's essay "A Finite Forever", as well as technical credits.

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Last year, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg was redone in 4K at Eclair in France, under the supervision of Mathieu Demy. Now, the 4K restoration is introduced on 4K Blu-ray in this combo pack, together with the previous 2K restoration of the film from a decade ago. On my system, the 2K restoration looked noticeably better and more convincing, so I will continue to revisit The Umbrellas of Cherbourg on Blu-ray. If you wish to upgrade your Blu-ray release, my advice would be to find a way to test the 4K Blu-ray on your system before committing to a purchase.