“The Musical That Inspired ‘Wicked’: A Look Back at a Groundbreaking Movie 60 Years Ago”

### Rediscovering Timeless Cinema: The Artistry of *The Umbrellas of Cherbourg*

In 1964, French filmmaker Jacques Demy made a bold departure from the conventions of the French New Wave. Unlike his contemporaries who often leaned on realism, grit, and introspection, Demy introduced the world to *The Umbrellas of Cherbourg*, a luminous Technicolor dreamscape that melded the romance of classic Hollywood musicals with a distinctly European flavor. What made it particularly groundbreaking was Demy’s audacious decision to have every line of dialogue sung, crafting an operatic narrative that transformed the mundane into the extraordinary. Almost six decades later, the film continues to inspire and resonate, especially with a recent 4K restoration that renders its aesthetic brilliance even more vibrant.

### A Cinematic Fable Cloaked in Color

The premise of *The Umbrellas of Cherbourg* is deceptively simple. At its heart lies a tender yet bittersweet love story that unfolds between Geneviève Emery (a radiant Catherine Deneuve) and Guy Foucher (Nino Castelnuovo), a young auto mechanic. Geneviève works in her mother’s umbrella shop, which gives the film its evocative title. Their romance is set against the backdrop of Cherbourg, a modest French port town with worn cobblestone streets and overcast skies.

The beauty of *The Umbrellas* lies not just in its plot, but in its aesthetic world-building. Everything—from the costumes and set design to the choreography of movement and the saturated palette—has been meticulously crafted to feel like a living painting. This elevates the ordinary moments of life into something brilliantly cinematic. Even the most banal interactions—questions about train schedules or conversations in the garage—are transformed when sung over Michel Legrand’s sumptuous, heartrending score.

### The Music of Everyday Emotion

Michel Legrand’s iconic music defines the soul of this film, with its recurring leitmotif “I Will Wait for You” acting as the heartbeat of Geneviève and Guy’s doomed romance. Unlike traditional musicals, where characters typically break into song for emotional crescendo, *The Umbrellas of Cherbourg* refuses to separate music from dialogue. The constant melody mirrors the rhythms of life itself, where joys and heartbreaks are filtered through the same continuum of existence.

Legrand’s score doesn’t offer the conventional comfort of resolving major chords. Instead, its unresolved tension mirrors the complexities of the film’s characters, especially as external forces, like class differences and the Algerian War, intrude on their youthful dreams.

### A Visual Feast of Meaning and Mood

Visually, *The Umbrellas of Cherbourg* has few peers. The 4K restoration supervised by Demy’s son, Mathieu Demy, enhances the already legendary visuals, sharpening the confectionery colors into surreal vibrancy. Cherbourg, as depicted by Demy, is not merely a location. It becomes a character, alive with emotions. Painted walls of pinks, blues, and pastels mirror the shifting moods of Geneviève and Guy’s story. The costumes amplify this effect, with their colors either complementing or contrasting the sets, reinforcing the emotional weight of each scene. Greta Gerwig’s *Barbie* and Damien Chazelle’s *La La Land* owe much of their visual choices to the lessons taught by Demy in this film.

### Bittersweet Realism Underneath a Candy-Colored Shell

While the film’s stylized visuals and sugary sweetness initially draw the viewer in, *The Umbrellas of Cherbourg* is no fairy tale. Beneath its kaleidoscope hues lies a somber story of love, compromise, and loss. Geneviève does not wait for Guy; life and circumstances demand practicality. She marries another man, and their youthful promises fall to the wayside. The final scene, in which the once-lovers meet by chance years later, is heartbreaking in its restraint. Snow falls, their affection remains unvoiced, and both leave with unspoken questions lingering in the white, wintry air. Happiness, Demy suggests, is often transient, and life’s beauty lies in its imperfection.

### A Reflection on Class and Society

Hidden among the musical’s romance is a subtle yet keen observation of class distinctions. Geneviève’s mother, concerned with securing her daughter’s social advancement, urges her to marry a wealthy man instead of romantically pining for Guy, an auto mechanic. Unlike other films of its time, *The Umbrellas* doesn’t rely on stereotypical imagery to depict blue-collar lives. Guy, while manual laborer, is shown enjoying the arts, attending the opera *Carmen* on a date with Geneviève. Similarly, the film’s breathtaking visuals remind us that love and sorrow transcend class, making ordinary lives feel just as grand and cinematic as those in the upper-crust settings of classic Hollywood romances.

### Why *The Umbrellas of