Cyrano de Bergerac (1990 film)

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Cyrano de Bergerac
Directed by Jean-Paul Rappeneau
Produced by René Cleitman
Michel Seydoux
André Szots
Written by Jean-Claude Carrière
Jean-Paul Rappeneau
Edmond Rostand
Starring Gérard Depardieu
Music by Jean-Claude Petit
Cinematography Pierre Lhomme
Distributed by Orion
Release date(s) Flag of France 28 March 1990
Flag of the United States December, 1990
Flag of Australia 6 December 1990
Running time 137 min.
Language French
IMDb profile

Cyrano de Bergerac is a 1990 French language film based on the 1897 play of the same name by Edmond Rostand. It was directed by Jean-Paul Rappeneau and adapted by Jean-Claude Carrière and Jean-Paul Rappeneau. The English subtitles use Anthony Burgess's translation of the text, which preserves the rhyming alexandrines of the original. The film was a co-production between companies in France and Hungary.

The film is the first theatrical film version of Rostand's original play in color. It is also considerably more lavish than previous versions.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Cyrano de Bergerac is a Parisian poet and swashbuckler with a large nose of which he is self-conscious, but which he pretends to be proud of. He is madly in love with his cousin, the beautiful Roxane, but does not believe she will requite his love because he considers himself physically unattractive. Soon he finds that Roxane has become infatuated with Christian de Neuvillette, a dashing new recruit to the Cadets of Gascogne, a military unit. Seeing an opportunity to vicariously declare his love for Roxane, he decides to help the tongue-tied Christian, who does not know how to court a woman, gain her love, and aids him with love letters and verse describing the very emotions that he himself feels for Roxane. At first, Roxane appreciates Christian only for his looks and his apparent eloquence, but she eventually falls in love with him because of his extraordinary love for her, and not because of his physical beauty. When Christian dies in battle, Cyrano keeps his love for her a secret, until a fateful attempt on his life leaves him on death's door. Only then does he reveal to Roxane his feelings towards her. As Cyrano dies, Roxane realizes that it was he, and not Christian, that she really loved all along.

[edit] Cast list

  • Cyrano de BergeracGérard Depardieu
  • Roxane — Anne Brochet
  • Christian de Neuvillette — Vincent Perez
  • Comte Antoine de Guiche — Jacques Weber
  • Ragueneau — Roland Bertin
  • Le Bret — Philippe Morier-Genoud
  • Carbon de Castle-Jaloux — Pierre Maguelon
  • The Duenna — Josiane Stoléru
  • The Child — Anatole Delalande
  • The Father — Alain Rimoux
  • Vicomte de Valvert — Philippe Volter
  • Lignière — Jean-Marie Winling
  • The Bore — Louis Navarre
  • Montfleury — Gabriel Monnet
  • Bellerose — François Marié

[edit] Awards

[edit] Academy Awards

Award Person
Best Costume Design Franca Squarciapino
Nominated:
Best Actor Gérard Depardieu
Best Art Direction Ezio Frigerio
Jacques Rouxel
Best Foreign Language Film France
Best Makeup Michèle Burke
Jean-Pierre Eychenne

Gérard Depardieu's Best Actor nomination is an extremely rare feat for a non-English-speaking role.

[edit] Cannes

Gérard Depardieu won the Best Actor award at the Cannes International Film Festival in 1990.

[edit] Césars

The film was nominated for 14 César Awards in 1991, and received 11, which is a record, including awards for Best Film, Best Actor, Best Cinematography, and Best Director.

[edit] Golden Globe

The film won the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

[edit] BAFTA

The film was nominated for 8 BAFTA in 1991 and received 4.

[edit] Trivia

This film marked the second time that an actor had been nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of Cyrano; the first time was in 1950, when José Ferrer was nominated for his performance in the English-language film of Cyrano de Bergerac. Ferrer, however, won his Oscar, while Depardieu did not.

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Cinema Paradiso
Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film
1991
Succeeded by
Europa Europa
Preceded by
Too Beautiful for You
César Award for Best Film
1991
Succeeded by
All the World's Mornings