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France,
1640: Cyrano, a charismatic swordsman-poet with an absurdly
large nose, is hopelessly in love with his beautiful cousin,
Roxane. Unfortunately, for Cyrano, she has fallen for the
handsome but tongue-tied Christian, who loves her too but
is too bashful to begin his courtship. Cyrano helps Christian
to woo Roxane, an innocent deception, with tragic results...
Cyrano
de Bergarac was originally released in 1950 and is an
adaptation of the 19th Century play written by Edmond Rostand
and based on the 17th Century character Savinien Cyrano de
Bergerac. José
Ferrer won an Oscar for his portrayal of the legendary swordsman-poet
and it's was an award well deserved.
The
irony of this tale is that while Cyrano is bold and courageous
- fighting many men at the drop of a hat - he also has a gentle
heart and is too shy to confront Roxane about his feelings
for her. And, when he learn that Christian is the object of
her desires, he realises that she will never love him and
so sets about turning Christian into a poet - writing his
letters to Roxane and teaching him how to sound like he has
the heart of a self-styled philosopher.
This
movie has aged gracefully, although the print used here could
have done with a quick clean before being transferred to DVD.
Not only that, but someone should have checked this movie
more carefully as there is a
six second pause where one film reel ends and the next begins
- and it's not because the DVD changes layers at that point.
I
loved the very final shot - Cyrano had crucified himself throughout
his tortured life and the final shot shows a subliminal cross.
There
are no real extras on this release, just a selection of biographies
for the main cast and crew members, but then this movie is
worth parting with your cash even without extras. It's just
a shame that more care wasn't taken with the transfer.
Ray
Thompson
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