- Director : Joe Wright
- Actors : Peter Dinklage, Haley Bennett, Kelvin Harrison, Jr., Ben Mendelsohn
- Writers : Erica Schmidt
- Producers : Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Guy Heeley
- Media Format : NTSC, Digital_copy
- Run time : 2 hours and 4 minutes
- Studio : Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
- Country of Origin : USA
- MPAA rating : PG-13 (Parents Strongly Cautioned)
- Release date : April 19, 2022
- Number of discs : 2
An element of film production that doesn’t
often get discussed is unity, how all the individual elements work together. It
is impossible to review Cyrano without considering the film’s unity.
Each of the individual elements in Joe Wright’s adaptation of Erica Schmidt’s musical
are fantastic. Wright’s direction is full of formalistic embellishments, Peter
Dinklage gives an emotional performance as the title character, and there are
several memorable songs. At the same time, these fantastic elements rarely work
together, leaving a film that feels like a collection of individual elements.
Schmidt’s stage
musical is based on Edmond Rostand’s classic French stage play, Cyrano de
Bergerac, though it has original music created by members of rock band The National.
The story follows a heartbreaking love triangle as well as an iconic
representation of unrequited love. Cyrano de Bergerac (Dinklage) is a skilled soldier
with a quick wit, but he keeps his affections for his longtime friend Roxanne
(Haley Bennett) a secret, believing she could never love him due to his dwarfism.
When Roxanne falls for Christian (Kelvin Harrison, Jr.), a soldier under Cyrano’s
command, she turns to her friend for assistance. Despite his feelings, Cyrano orchestrates
a relationship between Roxanne and Christian.
Because
Christian isn’t skilled with words, Cyrano begins to write letters to Roxanne
for him, using the power of his unrequited affections to say all the right
things. This leads to a complicated love triangle, because Roxanne has little
interest in Christian without Cyrano’s words. These words are often
supplemented with song and dance. Despite changing aspects of Cyrano’s appearance
and the stylistic presentation of the musical genre, Cyrano stays
faithful to the source material.
The music
created by Bryce Dessner, Aaron Dessner and Matt Berninger of The National has
a few shining moments. "I Need More” is a female empowerment song that has
power, which is quickly followed by the incredibly romantic "Overcome."
These are two among several memorable and effectively emotional tracks, with a
style that sound distinctly like The National. The only downside to this was
the fact that I spent much of the film hearing The National’s lead singer, Matt
Berninger, in place of the actors. As much as I love The National and am a fan
of this classic French love story, I can’t say they went together incredibly
well.
Even when his
films are a failure, Joe Wright is still an interesting filmmaker. This was precisely
how I felt about Cyrano. It often felt like a failed experiment, but I
found myself moved, nevertheless. Part of this was the power of the story
itself, part the effectiveness of the performances, and the melancholy nature
of the music also played a role. I only wish all of these elements had worked
better together.
The Blu-ray release
of Cyrano comes with a DVD and digital copy of the film, along with the
high definition presentation. The disc itself only has one featurette for a
special feature. It is a making-of feature, with interviews and
behind-the-scenes footage of the production but is also fairly surface.
Entertainment Value:
8.5/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 7.5/10
Historical
Significance: 6/10
Special Features: 3/10
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