The Umbrellas of Cherbourg Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		5.0

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov June 29, 2014

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 Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the new restoration of the film; Marie Genin and Serge July's documentary film "Once Upon a Time... The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" (2008); exclusive new video interview with film scholar Rodney Hill; audio excerpts from archival interviews with Catherine Deneuve and Michel Legrand; archival interview with director Jacques Demy and Michel Legrand; and restoration demonstration. In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The lovers

Note: The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is part of Criterion's upcoming The Essential Jacques Demy Blu-ray box set.

This wonderful film directed by Jacques Demy pays tribute to the classic Hollywood musicals. Its score, one of the greatest ever composed for a French film, is 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 in 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 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 Criterion.

The release uses as a foundation the same beautiful 2K restoration of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg that was first introduced on Blu-ray in France in 2013 (see our review of Arte Video's release here). The 2K scan was done on Digimage-Classics' SCANITY scanner and the film's color grading was supervised by Mathieu Demy. Additionally, the sound restoration was carried out using the film's 1963 mono mix, the 1992 Dolby SR optical negative, and the 1992 digital multitrack tapes. The entire digitization and restoration was produced by Cine-Tamaris, with the support of the Cannes Film Festival.

The film looks beautiful in high-definition. Detail and clarity are enormously impressive and shadow definition is dramatically improved. (Some of the most problematic sequences on previous DVD releases of the film were the darker ones). The most substantial improvements, however, are in the area of color reproduction. Indeed, large parts of the film now have a completely different vibe because of the improved color saturation (see screencaptures #5, 15, and 17). There are no traces of problematic degraining or sharpening corrections. Predictably, grain is evenly distributed and resolved, and the entire film has a very solid organic look (see screencapture #1). Overall image stability is excellent and there are no transition issues. Finally, there are no large cuts, debris, damage marks, stains, or warps. All in all, this is a fantastic restoration of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, and I am convinced that North American fans of the film will be enormously pleased with it. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. For the record, Criterion have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.

I initially viewed the film with the DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track that was included on the French release and was very pleased with the audio restoration. In addition to improved stability and clarity, separation during the duets is excellent. The 5.1 track has the same solid foundation -- depth, clarity, and separation are very good; there is a terrific range of nuanced dynamics as well. For the record, there are no pops, cracks, background hiss, audio dropouts, or distortions to report in this review.

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

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

• 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, 1080p).

• 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, 1080p).

• 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, 1080p).

• 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, 1080p).

• 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, 1080p).

• 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).

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

I first saw Cine-Tamaris' 2K restoration of Jacques Demy's The Umbrellas of Cherbourg in 2013. I liked it so much that at the end of the year I included French label Arte Video's release on our Best Blu-ray Releases from the Rest of the World list. The same beautiful restoration is now included in Criterion's upcoming box set of Jacques Demy films. I cannot wait to see the rest of the films in it, and especially the newly restored Bay of Angels. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.