Cyrano de Bergerac (1990)

Embarrassed by his large nose, a romantic poet/soldier romances his cousin by proxy.

Director:

Jean-Paul Rappeneau

Writers:

Edmond Rostand (play), Jean-Paul Rappeneau (adaptation)

Stars:

Gérard Depardieu, Anne Brochet, Vincent Perez

Won 1 Oscar. Another 30 wins & 28 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gérard Depardieu	...	Cyrano De Bergerac
Anne Brochet	...	Roxane
Vincent Perez	...	Christian de Neuvillette
Jacques Weber	...	Comte De Guiche
Roland Bertin	...	Ragueneau
Philippe Morier-Genoud	...	Le Bret
Pierre Maguelon	...	Carbon de Castel-Jaloux
Josiane Stoléru	...	The Duenna
Anatole Delalande	...	The Child
Alain Rimoux	...	The Father
Philippe Volter	...	Vicomte de Valvert
Jean-Marie Winling	...	Lignière
Louis Navarre	...	The Bore
Gabriel Monnet	...	Montfleury
François Marié	...	Bellerose

Storyline

A dashing officer of the guard and romantic poet, Cyrano de Bergerac is in love with his cousin Roxane without her knowing. His one curse in his life, he feels, is his large nose and although it may have been a forming influence in his rapier-sharp wit, he believes that Roxane will reject him. He resorts to writing letters to her on behalf of one of his cadets, Christian, who is also in love with Roxane but just doesn't know how to tell her. She falls for the poetic charm of the letters but believes that they were written by Christian.

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Plot Keywords:

letter | nose | poet | french | starving | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | History | Romance

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

1 December 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cyrano

Filming Locations:

Abbaye de Fontenay, Montbard, Côte-d'Or, France

Box Office

Gross USA:

$5,820,020

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$5,822,041

Company Credits

Production Co:

Caméra One, Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC), DD Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

137 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby LC-Concept Digital Sound

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

With a Best Actor nomination for this film, Gérard Depardieu became the first actor to receive an Oscar nomination for playing the same role in another film version of a work that a different actor (José Ferrer) had previously won the award for. Robert De Niro had won an Oscar for playing Vito Corleone, a role that Marlon Brando had previously won the Oscar for, but De Niro and Brando had played the role in two entirely different films with two entirely different storylines. Ferrer and Depardieu had respectively appeared in different versions of Edmond Rostand's "Cyrano de Bergerac".

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Quotes

[first lines]
Man at Theatre: Fifteen sous! I get in free.

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Connections

Version of Cyrano at Roxanne (1973)

User Reviews

Careers are built on films like this

Gérard Depardieu became famous with Cyrano, and Cyrano de Bergerac knew its master with Depardieu.

This classic piece of French literature is based on real events (largely adapted), and while it is a stage play, the skill of transposing the play to the silver screen is a feat!

The film resorts to skillful cutting of the text (now public domain - check Gutemberg), which sounds easy, but is not, because it flows so naturally and needs to be cut surgically, word for word.

At the same time, all that is missing from the script by Edmond Rostand is inspired by generations of stage performance. The miracle then is making the script in French likable to audiences who do not understand French, as Edmond Rostand can be compared to George Bernard Shaw, Shakespeare and Samuel Beckett.

The genius of Gérard Depardieu and the beauty of the sets, the quality and care for detail all push to bring this beautiful film within reach of non French audiences. In that respect the sword duel scene at the beginning is memorable and worth playing twice on DVD!

One thing though, the finale scene I found awkward but Edmond Rostand created it so the director had no choice.