The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)
Saved on this device. to keep it.
Where to Watch
Source: JustWatch
Physical Media
Jacques Demy knew his colors were going to die. He had shot the film in Eastmancolor, and everyone understood that Eastmancolor faded. The colors would shift, slowly, over time, until the print was a pink ghost of itself.
Most directors accepted this. Demy had three color-separation masters struck, one for yellow, one for cyan, one for magenta, on film stock that would last. He laid the foundation for his film's rescue decades before it would be needed.
THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG (1964) looks like a candy box: pastel walls, wallpaper matched to dresses, umbrellas dancing overhead in the rain.
It won the top prize at Cannes and made Catherine Deneuve a star. Every line in the film is sung, floating on a haunting score by Michel Legrand. Deneuve's iconic vocal performance was dubbed by Danielle Licari.
MILD SPOILERS: Deneuve was nineteen playing a seventeen-year-old in love with a mechanic who gets drafted to the war in Algeria. Their love proves no match for the passing years.
The film itself is a different story. Demy died in 1990. Agnès Varda, his widow, took his three preserved masters and used them to restore The Umbrellas of Cherbourg to its original brilliance.
Damien Chazelle has repeatedly cited it as a core model for La La Land.
About the Film
A film for all the young lovers of the world.
- Directed By
- Jacques Demy
- Runtime
- 93 minutes
- Released
- February 19, 1964
- US Theatrical
- December 16, 1964
- Certification
- PG-13
- Country
- France, Germany
- Starring
- Catherine Deneuve, Nino Castelnuovo, Anne Vernon, Mireille Perrey, Marc Michel
More Credits
- Genres
- Drama, Romance
- Language
- French
- Origin
- FR
- Studios
- Parc Film, Madeleine Films, Beta Film
- Written By
- Jacques Demy
- Produced By
- Gilbert de Goldschmidt, Mag Bodard, Pierre Lazareff
- Cinematography
- Jean Rabier
- Music
- Michel Legrand
- Also Starring
- Ellen Farner, Jean Champion, Jean-Pierre Dorat, Harald Wolff, Pierre Caden
- Budget
- $200,000
- Box Office
- $7,600,000
This website uses TMDB and the TMDB APIs but is not endorsed, certified, or otherwise approved by TMDB.
wow, Agnes Varda was married to Jacques Demy
Ian Wadley She made several films about him after his death, including the beautiful Jacquot de Nantes (started while he was dying).
Ian Wadley he was bisexual too…
One of K’s favorites.
Making separation masters for protection was standard practice.
Sheldon Hall My understanding is that it would have been unusual for the director of a small French film to do this. Indeed, many major studios in the 1960s and earlier considered their films ephemeral products with limited shelf life. (I’m no expert on film restoration, so if you know otherwise, please tell me.)
Making archival YCM masters from Eastmancolor negatives was standard practice at two major Hollywood studios for years – Paramount and Disney. Unfortunately that was not the case at every studio.
Jesus Christ such a lovely read only to be shit on by uttering “Damian Chazelle”.
Don Juanson Complete total honest truth: I have never seen La La Land. I watched it for about 10 minutes and just wasn’t feeling it. Been meaning to get back to it but haven’t been motivated. Umbrellas of Cherbourg I love and have seen several times.
Anywhere But Hollywood Same here actually. Seen minutes of it and that was enough. Revisited parts every now and then but no. It’s a pile of shit.
I saw Umbrellas around 2008.
One of the most beautiful phases of my life where I had moved to “America” to follow my dreams and after some years started missing Europe very very much.
I started watching European films and was absolutely blown away each and every time.
Russian films too. Japanese etc etc.
Every single day I watched 2 or 3!
That year I truly discovered cinema.
Don Juanson The better (IMHO) contemporary director inspired by Demy is Christophe Honoré – see e.g. his Chansons d’amour.
https://youtu.be/MGwiFH5X25s?is=UfFhDZxqGh1WDNXs
Anywhere But Hollywood yeah, respectfully, Umbrellas and Rochefort both kick La La Land’s scrawny little Hollywood butt.
Why didn’t he just film it in three strip Technicolor? It would look as good now as it did when he made it? We sold this most stunning color process to the Japanese. Now if we want to use it again, we have to buy it back. They love it! How did that happen?
Joachim Stossberg I think Technicolor was very expensive, which is why so many different companies competed with less pricey (if also less vivid) processes.
Probably true. But in the long run it would have been worth every cent. The last film that can recall using it in some scenes was ‘ Pearl Harbor’ which looked stunning.
A much better film than La La Land.
Rick Bristol Thank you. I will never understand why La La Land was such a hit.
Rick Bristol absolutely! There was nothing about the colors in La La Land that were anywhere near comparable to Umbrellas of Cherbourg.
On of the best film of all time
Does the negative fade or just the prints.
I thought it was the latter only
This sounds like something I’d be interested in !
La La Land is a cheap rip off.
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is the greatest chick flick ever made.
Love the film, but love “The Young Girls of Rochefort” with both Deneuve and her sister playing sisters. Same pastel palette.
One of my all-time favorite movies.
Demy was exceeding kind. My wife, Dee Cothern, did the local casting for the film Louisiana starring Ian Charleston and Margot Kidder. Jacques was ultimately replaced by Philippe de Broca, who Margot soon married. Jacques borrowed our VHS tape of On the Town, one of his favorite films.
The palette of my youth. The clothes in the 60s were all in these shades.
The colour palette of film is divine! Incredible production design too.
One of my favourite films a delight of sight and sound.
Saw the cinematic re-release in London back in 1997, so am keen to see the restored version!
Also popped by the shop they used as a set when I was last in Cherbourg in 2023.
Yes, it was raining… ☔
When I saw La La Land my first thought was this director loves The Young Girls from Rochefort. More so than umbrellas imo
Umbrellas is a beautiful movie in every way. I enjoyed it so much more than I thought I would.
Incredible. I haven’t seen this since the 70s
I haven’t seen it available on cable today.
John Geraghty they play it semi regularly on TCM
Tracey Martin Thanks
One of the greatest films ever.
I loved it a collegian 🤔😉
1000 times better than Lalaland
Another reason to love and admire Varda!
That describes 1930s three color Technicolor, George Lucas’s did the same thing for Star Wars to preserve the colors.
Francoise Dorleac, her ACTUAL SISTER, played Deneuve’s sister in Les Demoiselles de Rochefort. The musical featured Gene Kelly, no less!
Francoise was on the brink of being an international megastar (she was in Billion Dollar Brain etc) when she tragically flipped her hired car in her hurry to catch a plane at Nice Airport.
One of my Top Ten… such a moving film, with a haunting score. It’s a master work.
My first “arty” film and changed my movie going habits. Watched it many times and ending still gives me a tear. We all make choices in life and sometimes they are very hard. He did the right thing.
The “Genevieve” song haunted my childhood as an easy-listening arrangement. It was a pleasant shock to hear the words, once I saw this film!
The lovely song “Watch What Happens” is from this film.
One of the best, most beautiful movies ever. A work of art. ❤️
Alexander Koutelias
Is this also true of The Young Girls of Rochefort?
Actually their love doesn’t survive the war 😆
Saw this at home I would love to see it at a theater.