Too self-conscious to woo Roxanne himself, wordsmith Cyrano de Bergerac helps young Christian nab her heart through love letters.
Cyrano de Bergerac was written by Edmund Rostand, a French poet, and playwright in 1897. Written originally in verse, the English translation often used is one by Brian Hooker, done in 1923. The play was well-received by 19th-century audiences and has been revived in similar form in films in 1925, 1950 (Joe Ferrer won Best Actor), 2008 (Kevin Kline), and 1990 French adaptation (Gerard Depardieu). There is also an opera and a stage musical based on the stage play. This 2021 version is based on that stage musical, and Erica Schmidt writes both. The story is so engaging that several modern-day film versions have appeared. “Love Letters” (1945), “Electric Dreams” (1984), “Roxanne” (1987), and “Let It Shine” (2012), among others.
Schmidt and director Joe Wright’s current installment is beautiful to watch. The production design is breathtaking, and the costuming mirrors the settings perfectly. The actors are superb, and the script is true to the heart of Edmund Rostand’s 17th-century poem/play. That should render this 2021 version of this well-known story a slam dunk, but it fails surprisingly in that effort. As the film opened, I thought, “Wow! I’m going to love this!” The background sets, scenery, and props perfectly depicted the historical period. Costumes were brilliantly designed, and Bennett’s opening scenes as she hurriedly and excitedly dressed for attending a play hinted strongly at her ability to portray Roxanne, the contested love interest. She is girlish but never silly. She is a lover of the power of words in a time when poems of love and romantic music were the playbook lovers used to attract and engage one another. Bennett seems to inhabit Roxanne as she looks for intelligent and romantic words of love from the man whose beautiful looks have caught her eye and her heart.
Peter Dinklage comes to the role of Cyrano with a long list of film credits and awards and nominations behind him. Between 2011 and 2019, he portrayed Tyrion Lannister in HBO’s fantasy drama “Game of Thrones.” In previous versions of this 2021 film, Cyrano’s big nose causes his insecurity and lack of confidence in pursuing the woman he loves, the beautiful Roxanne. Obviously, in this latest version, it is Cyrano’s status as a dwarf, a “little person,” not his nose that persuades him he will never experience romantic love but only friendship from a woman. This change from the original Rostand script doesn’t exactly alter the author’s intention, but it does take away much of the comedy that surrounds Cyrano’s unusual schnoz. I also found the change a little disturbing, that the audience is asked to equate dwarfism with ugliness. I don’t find Dinklage ugly, just different. He does, however, bring a darker aspect all around to a character who, to be successful in his world, must keep up his appearance as a scoundrel with swagger, sarcasm, and panache. Easier to laugh at jokes about a big nose than jokes about a dwarf.
Along with my reluctance to fully accept Cyrano’s supposedly off-putting “ugliness,” I had somewhat the same problem with the choice of Kelvin Harrison, Jr. as Christian. Harrison certainly embodies physical beauty. Christian, however, is also a bit of a dolt, a clod, and not an intellectual by any standard. Perhaps I’ve become overly sensitized to casting a black actor as the one character pinpointed as too dumb to woo a woman with words. Harrison’s characterization of Christian does seem more human and more believable than previous Christians who weren’t just poor word carvers but not the best actors either.
The music for me was hit or miss. It sometimes added beautifully to the scene at hand and sometimes was too much and distracting. I was not too fond of the lyrics. Awkward and contrived, only a few were worthy of keeping, one being the love song repeated throughout the film. The film is too long, and editors need to do some more snip, snipping, for instance, the music at the battle scene as each soldier leaves to go to their certain death. I thought we were about to slip into a scene in “Les Misérables.”
I loved, loved the use of monochrome costumes and background in scenes of the town and the sisters’ habits at the hospital were jaw-droppingly gorgeous. Much of what was best in this film felt like watching a stage production, no surprise. Representational art was often juxtaposed with abstract art, increasing audience interest and attention. The end of the film and the play are always a disappointment to me, but only in artistic ways. Poor Cyrano has succumbed to various assaults, but the current version is the most difficult to accept. Cyrano’s demise in the 1950 version is more reasonable but still awkward to stage successfully. I have to wonder when is Cyrano enough and the poor man left to rest in peace?
As stated earlier, this “Cyrano” is beautiful to watch. The stage pictures are lovely. Dinklage as Cyrano is an interesting concept but delves past the comedy of the plays to a darker place, Harrison never reaches complete believability as Christian, and Bennett is the real star as Roxanne whose movement from girl to woman is beautiful to watch but the film takes itself too seriously as it progresses and the lightness that should be present is slowly lost.
In Theaters Friday, February 25th
