You got a great lead actor, a great screenwriter, a great director of photography, a great set designer, a great composer, an excellent supporting cast. Everything checks here, except the direction. Rappenau is obviously trying, but he just doesn't have the vision and maybe even nor the skills to render the richness and the life of Edmond Rostand's text.
Cyrano is THE classic of all classics of the French people who know every single rhyme already. The play is constantly produced there, and any great actor has once played Cyrano. This lavish cinema adaptation is still very good. But with all this talent pool here, the production should have hired a more visionary director. Someone who could have rendered the great dialogue in all its subtleties.
To be frank, modern French cinema is unfortunately completely devoid of great directors. What you got there today is "cinema de qualite" level at best. But for a project like this, maybe a Foreman or a Polanski could have rendered Edmond Rostand's text more nuanced and more alive.
Rappeneau does his best, but his best is just NOT ENOUGH. Nonetheless, the movie still has a lot to offer. And Depardieu finds here the role of his life.
Great movie, it looses 3 stars because of the mediocre direction. 7/10.
Cyrano is THE classic of all classics of the French people who know every single rhyme already. The play is constantly produced there, and any great actor has once played Cyrano. This lavish cinema adaptation is still very good. But with all this talent pool here, the production should have hired a more visionary director. Someone who could have rendered the great dialogue in all its subtleties.
To be frank, modern French cinema is unfortunately completely devoid of great directors. What you got there today is "cinema de qualite" level at best. But for a project like this, maybe a Foreman or a Polanski could have rendered Edmond Rostand's text more nuanced and more alive.
Rappeneau does his best, but his best is just NOT ENOUGH. Nonetheless, the movie still has a lot to offer. And Depardieu finds here the role of his life.
Great movie, it looses 3 stars because of the mediocre direction. 7/10.