Response XI- The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

I have to admit that usually I despise musicals. For me there is nothing more painful and ridiculous than watching a film where actors and actresses sing songs to create a story. I think the main reason I do not like musicals so much is because I find them hard to follow, not because they are complicated but because if I don't like the song that is being sung, I stop paying attention. The same goes for when I am listening to music on the radio. If I do not like the song, I either stop paying attention or change the station. Even though I do not like musicals, "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg " is an exception for me; I actually liked it to a certain extent.

I think the reason why I liked this film is because it is unlike any musical I have ever seen. Every musical I have seen involves actors singing actual songs with choruses and verses. "Rent" is an example of a film that does this; however, I felt as if "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" somewhat deviated from this traditional style. Unlike "Rent," the actors in this films are singing dialogue as oppose to actual songs. Even though often times the dialogue and the music did not sound well together, it is easy to ignore this since the story is engaging. For me, it is important for a film to have dialogue. I am opposed to having songs in a film, but "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" did have dialogue regardless to the fact that it was sung, so I cannot really complain.

In the above paragraph, I mentioned that the film's dialogue and music did not sound well together on several occasions. This is one of the ways that Jacques Demy created an alternate, artificial, anti-naturalistic universe. Everything about this film was fake-looking. Aside from the music and dialogue not matching up, the reality within the film was very idealized. Everyone was so polite and happy thereby giving the film a very cheerful mood. Demy added to the film's pleasant mood further with his use of color. All the settings were rich in bright, primary colors.

I am not sure where exactly Demy stood politically, but I feel as if he was making a political statement with this film as well. The two characters in this film end up living two very different lives. Genevieve ends up getting married to a wealthy bourgeois man who symbolizes capitalism, and Guy marries his aunt's caretaker with whom he lives humbly as a mechanic. Guy in this case symbolizes socialism. Although the audience has no reason to believe that Genevieve's husband treats her badly since he always appears as a gentleman, at the end when Genevieve and Guy meet again, I had the feeling that Genevieve was not as a happy as she should be. I feel as if even though she is wealthy and has everything she could ever want, Genevieve would have been happier with Guy. I had the feeling that Demy was positively portraying socialism since Guy seems to be the happier of the two. I especially believed this during the final scene when Guy is happily playing with his working class family in the snow. This political interpretation of the film could be countered with the fact that Guy owns the garage he works at; however, although he owns this garage he is still essentially a blue-collared worker, a genre of workers that is traditionally associated with socialism.

Even though I somewhat enjoyed "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg," I cannot see myself voluntarily watching another musical again. This film did not change my attitude towards musicals simply because I believe that "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" is one of a kind.