and nothing more. for the art of Depardieu to explore and use and give force to the details who defines his character. for Vincent Perez as the lover who ignores the feelings of his friend. for Anne Brochet's performance, subtle and delicate and seductive. a film who reminds old recipes and Rostand's universe. mixture of old fashion romanticism and adventures, high sensibility and profound beauty of sacrifice in name of loyalty . few admirable scenes. and grace of script for rebirth a world in its original spirit. a great Depardieu who manage emotions and vulnerability and force and touching love declamation. a film about love. in a refined style. short. a real must see. or, only, simple, a gem.

Embarrassed by his large nose, a romantic poet/soldier (Gerard Depardieu) romances his cousin (Anne Brochet) by proxy.The story of Cyrano has been told many times, and there are a number of film adaptations. Perhaps best known is Steve Martin in "Roxanne", which is a little heavier on the comedy and much lighter on the sword fighting. Well, you know, you will have that.This version has an advantage that few have: it is French. That gives it a bit of weight. And it does not shy away from the fact Cyrano is attracted to his cousin, something that would be removed from any mainstream film (unless used for comedy, as with George Michael Bluth).

Summary : near the middle of the 17th century, Cyrano de Bergerac is the most independent-minded and talented poet, the most feared duelist, and, in the "Cadets de Gascogne" Regiment, one of the most valorous military men on the place of Paris.Yet, secretly, he feels miserable...Deeply in love for years with his cousin, the radiantly beautiful Roxanne, he never confessed it to anyone, including the beauty herself, for fear of ridicule...For this hero has a terrible flaw : his hideous, overgrown, cartilaginous nose, destroying forever his chances to live a normal life.One day however, Cyrano's routine of hiding his sorrow behind his pride is turned upside down : Roxanne wants to talk to him...Trembling with a mix of fear, hope and excitement, he goes to the rendezvous, only to learn that Roxanne is in love with a handsome young man, Christian de Neuvilette ; Christian is to incorporate the Cadets de Gascogne, and, not being a Gascon himself, she fears he may be roughed up or worse and is asking for Cyrano's protection, which he gallantly promises, accepting his defeat with secret despair.But in those days to be handsome wasn't enough and to win the heart of a "precious" meant to master the art of eloquence, and Christian, as chivalrous as he is, not only has none, but doesn't understand that it should be needed so badly when a man an a woman are already inclined to each other, risking to lose Roxanne with his directness.Cyrano decides to help Christian in wooing Roxanne, through his utmost brilliance in eloquence ; he'll be his voice at their secret rendezvous, his hand in writing his love letters...But won't he risk burning his proverbial wings getting closer and closer to what has been his personal sun for so many years? From then on you should watch the film without knowing too much, for it is a masterpiece on so many levels. The end, particularly, has drawn oceans of tears from hundreds of millions of eyes (the play book is a best-seller).But before giving my own appreciation on the film, one has to know the following facts : - There was actually a Cyrano de Bergerac, in the middle of the 17th century, and, except for the love story, he was EXACTLY what he is portrayed in the film, and perhaps even more interestingly so, in that he is considered a precursor of the enlightment and perhaps agnosticism ; he composed also incredibly touching poems about nature, yet one just needs to know that the most historically accurate fact in the film is his famous fight, and victory, against one hundred henchmen at the Porte de Buci, which was related by many written accounts of the time, to understand that he was a larger than life, extraordinary character.The french play writer Edmond Rostand, by the end of the XIX century became engrossed with this almost forgotten historical figure, and decided to revive him in a play, adding a love plot, using the historically attested, enormous but not particularly ugly, nose of Cyrano, as the catalyst for the story. The play was instantly a triumph and never ceased so, despite a curious use of the metric and some arguably convoluted verses, but the emotion is so there that no one in his mind can resist it ; this play is almost entirely respected in the film, verse for verse.Now the film in itself : first, hats off to Jean-Paul Rappeneau for his recreation of XVII th century Paris : it isn't a film played in this era, it is a film LIVED in this era ; one must watch it to believe it! it's an absolute shock, never have I felt such an immersion in time! the costumes, the streets, the houses, the light, the settings, the people, everything feels (and probably is) authentic.But especially hats off to Gérard Depardieu, who has understood the character so well, turning his frustration into bursts of pure fury, yet showing the widest palette of emotions, the deepest gallantry, the deepest sorrow, with such delicacy...If it were just for his act, one should watch the film. it's not for nothing that this is considered his career's pinnacle.I have only two negative remarks to make : First, Anne Brochet as Roxanne isn't convincing enough in my opinion, and she isn't as radiantly beautiful as I would have liked, but her role is difficult (who wouldn't be turned off eventually by such a pretentious lady nowadays?), and she acts magnificently during the end scene.Second, the fight scenes with Gérard Depardieu are more reminiscent of his role to come as Obelix, rather as to the finest fencer of his day ; now, one has to understand that the real Cyrano was only twenty when he did all his exploits, before being gravely injured on battle at twenty-two, and that good old Gégé was probably well in his thirties in the film...For the rest : a must watch, absolutely. If the end doesn't draw tears from your eyes, please contact Area 51 for you must be an Alien.

Cyrano De Bergerac was a very energetic and passionate movie. The actor that played Cyrano did such a great job. The enthusiasm and power that he put into the role was amazing. I love how Cyrano was so prideful. He had his own path and he did not care who he angered. I also enjoyed how the ending was not a happy ending. I feel the way they ended it was more believable than the way an American would of ended it, with the guy getting the girl and living happily ever after. The directer is Jean-Paul Rappeneau. He is a french film director, screenwriter, and actor. Rappeneau is known for creating the most elaborate film version of Cyrano De Bergerac. The film was one of the most expensive French films ever produced. A great idea is the idea about how people think very superficial about themselves. This idea is seen throughout the whole film. In the beginning Cyrano freaks out at a man in the theater and ends up in a sword and word battle with the guy because he makes fun of his nose. Also Cyrano feels no woman would want him just because of his nose. Even in the end when he is told that Roxanne loved whoever wrote the letters and did not care if the person was ugly, Cyrano still waited until his death was eminent to let her know he wrote the letters. Another good idea is that a man should stand up for what he believes in. Cyrano shows this constantly throughout the movie. First when he is in the bathhouse and Comte De Guiche comes to ask him a question. Cyrano could get one of his plays put on stage but he would have to join Comte De Guiche. Cyrano basically spits in his face and does not respect the man. The largest thing that stood out to me that made this movie French was the fact that it did not have a happy ending. If this were an American film Cyrano would of ended with Roxanne and Christian would not of died. But with having Christian die and Cyrano not tell Roxanne he loves her we get this interesting ending where no one ends up happy. It has a very dark Shakespearian feel to it. Another thing from the movie that was very French was that you were entertained by more words than fighting. In an American film there would of been more fighting and less word play, but in the French movie the people are more proud of being able to speak more diverse than be rich.