WATCH PARTY: The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) Jacques Demy@Jordan-Newby Library

And now for a change of pace, an upbeat French musical from 1964!

RUNTIME: 92 minutes

SYNOPSIS (via Criterion): The angelically beautiful Catherine Deneuve was launched to stardom by this dazzling musical heart-tugger from Jacques Demy. She plays an umbrella-shop owner’s delicate daughter, glowing with first love for a handsome garage mechanic, played by Nino Castelnuovo. When the boy is shipped off to fight in Algeria, the two lovers must grow up quickly. Exquisitely designed in a kaleidoscope of colors, and told entirely through lilting songs by the great composer Michel Legrand, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is one of the most revered and unorthodox movie musicals of all time.

BLURBS:
"Catherine Deneuve won the Best Actress prize at Cannes, but the vocal performances of the entire ensemble are impeccable. Pure cinematic magic." - Kim Newman, Empire Magazine

"Also a visual knockout is the film’s wall-to-wall color scheme, which presents a world where almost everything has taken on the most wonderful pastel hues. Among the things that are so colored are the characters’ clothes, the walls and furnishings of their apartments, even the very umbrellas that come out frequently in this very rainy town." - Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

"It's so pink this film. If you want a selection of wallpapers to choose from, this film has just about every single one. I think it's lovely." - Margaret Pomeranz, At the Movies