Where it all Started

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

I recently went to NYU for an open-house event for graduate admitted students in Cinema Studies where I will be starting next fall. One of the students said she liked French Cinema -- what is there not to like? I was pleased and asked her to be more precise. She said she liked the French New Wave films the best. Which ones? "Godard," she replied, emphasizing the pronunciation of the letter 'D'. Truffaut was also mentioned. I felt like I had déjà-vu... Why is it that everyone always says that? I asked her if she could name her favorite Godard movie (and I didn't pronounce the D as you never pronounce consonants at the end of French words). To this she responded “Breathless," which I was expecting all along. Why is it that film nerds are always drawn to prefer foreign films? Is this love genuine, or is it for show?  

I have to admit, one of the first things I did write in my Statement of Purpose when I applied to NYU was “I was, quickly exposed to French new-wave classics; Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jacques Demy were both my first crushes and idols.” I chuckled to myself as I wrote this, and I knew I would get away with it and I did. 

As for the Umbrellas of Cherbourg, I watched it for the first time a few years ago. I was told that it was a movie my grandfather sat through twice at the movie theatre back in the day when they would loop the films. He was a famous French play-write, but he was also sensitive to music and had already written quite a few musicals -- he knew Michel Legrand personally (and other music heroes, and composers such as Georges Van Parys for example). 

To my great dismay, I never met my grandfather, but when the Umbrellas of Cherbourg ended, my heart sank and I couldn’t bring myself to leave the room. I wanted more and most of all, I wanted to discuss the film with my grandfather. My mother had already left the room halfway through the film saying she couldn’t take it and my father had fallen asleep for most of the film. 

Weeks followed, and I couldn't stop talking about the film to everyone. The only people who would respond were my parents and their friends, mostly artists. They seemed to understand where I was coming from. Nobody in high school seemed to care -- it wasn't very cool for a 90s kid. Everyone was talking about "Requiem for a Dream" (which of course I did enjoy, but also made me want to jump out the window), "Fight Club", "Trainspotting", "Memento" -- films that would hit us right in the core of our brains, but we, as teenagers, took a sadistic liking in being affected that way -- they would help feed our teenage rebellion since the subject matters were often drug related, violent, and erotic. 

Some of those films are still my favorite today. But with Jacques Demy's style, I was able to dream again when I watched his films, like a kid watching his first Disneys. For the weeks, and years that followed, I listened and watched his films over and over again. I became addicted, and watched the Umbrellas any chance I could. A friend bought me the audio CD of the entire Umbrellas of Cherbourg, opening credits all the way to the closing scene, the whole film was resonating in my ears, track by track, year by year. I was hungry for it all and always, and I still am today. The Cinemathèque in Paris must have heard my prayers to Demy as they dedicated a whole exhibition to all his work in 2013, where we were able to walk through his magical film kingdom.

“You have to stop living in a fantasy-world,” is a sentence, I definitely heard more than once in my life, but why would I want to give it up when I have the bright blue DVD case of the Umbrellas of Cherbourg, the pink Young Girls of Rochefort, and the purple Peau D’Ane, only an arm-reach away on my book shelves on top of my desk -- It would be hell not to have the opportunity to use and abuse them for ever and ever.