Cyrano de Bergerac is a story by Edmund Rostand, written in 1897, and it was a play written in French. And quelle surprise, there really was a person of this name which Rostand based his play on. The entire play is in fact poetry, written in rhyming couplets with 12 syllables per line. Interestingly, the play, translated into many languages, first introduced the word panache into English. If you read it in English, the best version is Anthony Burgess’ translation. In the original Cyrano is not a midget but rather a man with a very large nose, and so not regarded, and not regarding himself as handsome, in addition to which he is a brash and prideful person. On the other hand, he is a fine swordsman, an even better poet, and a musician to boot. But his physical appearance makes him believe that he could not be loved even by a very ugly or homely woman. And therein lies the problem. He ends up being the wordsmith for a handsome soldier named Christian who has been smitten by his very first sight of Roxanne, and he is indeed a handsome young man—– with no poetry.
This updating of the story remains quite true to the original in various regards, and is filmed in beautiful Sicily primarily in the ancient city of Noto. The movie is worth seeing just for the scenery, but the acting is superb, and Peter Dinklage should get an Oscar nod for best actor. His performance is very impressive. This is a very different performance than the one in Game of Thrones. The movie is like the movie Les Miserable in that the main characters sing repeatedly and the singing is well done, especially the beautiful Haley Bennett who plays Roxanne. Her performances reminds one of Juliet in the 1970s film adaptation of Shakespeare’s play. Unlike the Broadway musical, the music in the movie is by the Dessner brothers and it is quite good, and romantic. The movie has good space, and one does not mind it goes on for just over two hours.
I will not spoil the story and its ending, but will say this is one of the most enjoyable movies of the year thus far, and probably one of best musical you will see this year. Yes, it has the elements of fantasy, but then Rostand’s original play did as well. So, don’t expect graphic realism, expect beauty and pathos. There is no bad language in the film nor any sex scenes either, and you don’t miss them. This is a movie that older children and adults can all enjoy and discuss— about love’s labors lost…..and won.
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