Film: Design & Architecture

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)

Les Parapluies de Cherbourg was a worldwide hit when it was first released and was an interesting experiment in which the entire dialog was sung similar in style to an opera. Michel Legrand created the wall-to-wall score, and the film’s director Jacques Demy provided the sung dialog. This style along with the film’s candy-like colors would seem to suggest a sweet featherweight romance, but “Umbrellas” is unexpectedly sad and sage.