Behind the scenes of the film "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg": The Romantic Secrets of Catherine Deneuve

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

October 22 marks the 77th anniversary of the famous French actress, legend of world cinema, Catherine Deneuve. She has played dozens of memorable film roles, but her first big success came after the release of the musical Umbrellas Cherbourg. The love story, told to the music of Michel Legrand, turned out to be so heartfelt and touching, perhaps for the reason that none of the viewers then knew about - the actress herself at that time was in love and was expecting a child.

The legendary film musical appeared thanks to the directorial courage of Jacques Demi - before him there were no examples of successful experiments in this genre in French cinema. This director belonged to a group of young filmmakers called the New Wave, who sought to find modern approaches to the renewal of French cinema. The idea of developing the musical direction was supported by the composer Michel Legrand, thanks to the collaboration with whom the first film musical by Jacques Demi "Lola" appeared in 1960.

When this film was released, the young actress Catherine Deneuve received an invitation from the director to view it with the postscript: "". Even then, Jacques Demi decided that in his next film musical he would remove this actress. Of course, she could not refuse this offer. Later, the actress recalled: "".

Catherine Deneuve, following the example of her older sister - at that time already a very famous actress Frasoise Dorleac, began acting in films from her youth, making her debut at the age of 14. By that time, she managed to play in 7 films, but these works did not bring her recognition and popularity. She was already thinking about whether she should not change her profession, leaving the right to shine on the screens behind her successful sister, but shooting in the "Umbrellas Cherbourg" radically changed her creative life.

At first, the future success of the film did not bode well - the genre was new, the actors who played the main roles were little known, and the experiment with the style of the "sung film" was too daring. The fact is that the actors in it did not say a word - they only sang, or rather, opened their mouths, because professional vocalists sang for them. Composer Michel Legrand shared his memories: "".

In fact, it was a typical melodrama with an uncomplicated plot, but its form was completely new - in it even everyday dialogues in a car repair shop about the cause of a car malfunction were written in the form of blank verse and performed in recitative. Musical means became plot-forming, with the help of music the heroes expressed their feelings and thoughts, the whole space around was subordinated to the musical rhythm. Without music, this plot would have become a set of platitudes. (That is why the film, which subsequently received 5 Oscar nominations, failed during its first screening in the USSR: the music was “muffled”, and against this background Soviet actors read out the lyrics).

Jacques Demi had fears that the non-singing actress would find it difficult to cope with the role in the musical, and he thought about inviting the winner of Eurovision-1962 Isabelle Obre to play Genevieve, but she got into a serious car accident and was forced to refuse from the role. To pay attention to the young, still unknown actress Catherine Deneuve, the director was advised by his friend Roger Vadim. At that time, he was associated with a romantic relationship with the actress.

When they met, he was 32 years old, and she was only 17. Before that, he was married to Brigitte Bardot, whom he turned into a real superstar, starring in his film And God Created Woman, and to Danish actress Annette Stroyberg, who also became famous after filming in his films. With Catherine Deneuve, history repeated itself, securing for Roger Vadim the status of the omnipotent Pygmalion: from an aspiring actress, he created a brilliant film star. Deneuve said that he taught her "".

Catherine Deneuve did not have a professional acting education, but Roger Vadim was not embarrassed by this. He stated: "".

Roger Vadim advised Catherine Dorleac to take a pseudonym, because her sister Françoise was already known in the cinema under this name. Catherine chose her mother's maiden name, Deneuve, as her pseudonym. She also had to work on her appearance: for the sake of the role in "Umbrellas Cherbourg", the actress dropped 10 kg and changed her color from a brown-haired woman to a blonde.

According to the scenario, Genevieve's beloved Guillaume is taken into the army, and he spends 2 years in the war in Algeria. After his departure, the girl learns that she is expecting a child from him. The plight of the family forces her to marry a wealthy jeweler, and Guillaume, after returning, also marries another. All that remains for them is only memories of a happy youth in Cherbourg and a longing for lost illusions.

This rather banal melodramatic plot would probably never have made such an impression on the audience if it had not been for the amazing music of Michel Legrand and such touching images of the main characters that all viewers, without exception, believed. The actress did not have to play - she was really worried about what her heroine felt, because at the time of filming in the film she was expecting a child from Roger Vadim. They were not officially married, but lived together for 5 years. Both understood that they could not make each other happy - they were called absolute antipodes. But at the time of filming the film "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg," they were still in love and did not lose hope for a common future. Perhaps that is why this story sounded so heartfelt.

After the script of the film and the musical material for it were already ready, the creators of "Umbrellas Cherbourg" faced a new problem: none of the producers believed in the success of such a strange project and did not want to cooperate with them. They expected another refusal from the media mogul Pierre Lazarev and were not surprised when he said that he did not understand anything about this scenario. But then he added: "" So the means for filming were found.

When the film was finished, a new problem arose: no one wanted to release it. Then the media mogul Pierre Lazarev threatened distributors that he would not publish their advertisements in their magazines if they did not provide cinemas for the Cherbourg Umbrellas. And from the very first days in the best Parisian halls there were sold out, the film became commercially successful both in France and abroad. The audience was delighted, but the opinions of film critics were divided: some called the work of Jacques Demi a poem in music and color, others - a pretentious and too strange experiment. Nevertheless, at the Cannes Film Festival, the Umbrellas Cherbourg won the main prize - the Palme d'Or.

This film became a turning point in the creative destiny of Catherine Deneuve - after this triumph, she no longer doubted the correct choice of profession and decided to devote herself to cinema. The role of Genevieve became her hallmark and turned into a style icon and trendsetter. Millions of women around the world have imitated her heroine, doing the same hairstyles and dressing in the same style.

And Roger Vadim soon got a new muse: Roger Vadim - French heartthrob with Russian roots.