CYRANO DE BERGERAC
A film review by Malcolm Austin
Copyright 1990 Malcolm Austin
This article is spoiler-free.
I saw CYRANO DE BERGERAC yesterday. It is by Jean-Paul Rappeneau, and stars Gerard Depardieu in the title role. It is, of course, based on the play by Edmund Rostand.
I am a long-time Cyrano fan. I have seen the Jose Ferrer version several times, and seen it performed as a play twice. I have also read two translations. And I'm not even counting Steve Martin's ROXANNE!
I went to this film expecting it to be great, and I have to admit I was disappointed. I think this was partially my own nearly jaded familiarity with the story, and partially a result of the film. In particular, the sub-titles are the bane of this movie.
The film tries much harder than the Ferrer version to avoid seeming like a play. The locations are detailed and look authentic. In many ways the translation reminds me of Zefferelli's ROMEO AND JULIET. It is beautifully shot, and the camera-work is top-notch. Depardieu gives another wonderful performance, and the rest of the cast is up to his level.
Despite being filmed as a movie, no liberties were taken with the dialogue from the play, as far as I could tell, although at least a few scenes were trimmed.
The film is in French, and, frankly, I think that this is why the film kind of fell flat for me. The subtitles were excellent (written by Anthony Burgess), but they were very distruptive, particularly when they became idiomatic. Burgess went to great trouble, I think, to construct rhyming subtitles when appropriate, but at times this causes a gap between the sub-titles and the actual dialogue. There is also a lot of dialogue, spoken very rapidly, and I found myself often straining to keep up with the lines, and still look at the film itself.
Subtitles are a blunt instrument designed to allow a foreigner to enjoy a film, and follow the plot. This film foils them. I am not suggesting that the film such have been dubbed. That would have been far worse. But this film depends heavily on language, and subtitling is just not adequate.
There were several French speakers in the audience, and they were rapt. During the final scene, many (all men!) were crying. This is how I recall reacting when I saw the play, and read the book. This time, though, I felt more emotion seeing the reactions of those around me, than in seeing the film.
To sum up, this film is breath-taking and wonderful--if you speak French. If not, you might actually prefer the English (Ferrer) version, even though it is really a far inferior film. Better yet, see it as a play.
-- Malcolm Austin -- maus@fid.morgan.com .
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