Seriously, when will films like this leave me alone? I may have mentioned my many media weaknesses on this blog, but I probably haven’t mentioned my love of turn-of-the-century era period pieces, French settings, biopics about writers, and films about plays. Oddly specific, I know, and yet Cyrano My Love manages to encapsulate all of these. I didn’t even stand a chance. Should I be even doing this review? Its really not fair if I will theoretically love it before I even see it. Thankfully, I knew very little about this French language film written and directed by Alexis Michalik.
Set in 1897 Paris, (see right there, already two things I love), writer Edmond Rostand (Thomas Solivéres) has never been able to write a successful play, his style considered too old fashioned by most audiences. To make matters worse, he suffered for a two year writer’s block and has a wife and children to support. His last chance for success is to convince the famous actor Constant Coquelin (Oliver Gourmet) to put on a new play written by him. Problem is, Rostand has written absolutely nothing, and Constant needs to put on a show immediately as he is indebted to some very no nonsense “investors.” Now Rostand must quickly draw inspiration from his life to break his writers block and save himself from oblivion. This, of course, leads to how Cyrano de Bergerac, one of the most successful French plays in history, was written.
So, how can I describe the overall feel of this movie? It is whimsical while holding on to realism, arthouse without pretention, quirky without being annoying, and lighthearted yet serious when it absolutely needs to be. Because I am unfamiliar to modern French actors, I am sadly lacking in knowledge of any of their previous works (without looking on IMDB and cheating, of course.) But I was rather taken with the cast as a whole as they seemed to have quite a lot of fun on this film and with each other. Thomas Solivéres plays Rostand as charmingly clueless, almost as an antique prototype for the sensitive boy who longs for the “manic pixie dream girl” archetype in modern stories. While I usually am annoyed by that type of character, he subverts anything I dislike about the trope. In turn, Oliver Gourmet and Tom Leeb (who plays Rostand’s handsome actor friend Léo) provide excellent comedic timing with the fast paced dialogue.
Immediately, I am tempted to compare this film to one of my favorites of all time Moulin Rouge. While the setting, plot, and even time period are similar, it would be wildly unfair for me to compare the two. Comparing anything to one of your favorite movies will automatically make you like it less. (What’s even less fair is that I decided to put on Moulin Rouge as I am writing this because this movie reminded me I needed my Moulin Rouge fix!) Similarities aside, however, Cyrano is not Moulin Rouge, nor is it trying to be. If it were, I wouldn’t love it as much as I did.
As tailored as it seems for my exact tastes, I really don’t want to keep this film to myself. This is one I want to watch over and over again when I want to improve my mood. Now if only I can find more friends willing to sit through and appreciate a foreign language film with me. (I’m looking at you, “subtitle only” anime nerds!)
