Cyrano de Bergerac is a 1990
French-language film based on the 1897
play of the same name by
Edmond Rostand. It was directed by
Jean-Paul Rappeneau and adapted by
Jean-Claude Carrière and
Jean-Paul Rappeneau. The English subtitles use
Anthony Burgess's translation of the text, which preserves the rhyming
alexandrines of the original. The film was a
co-production between companies in
France and
Hungary.
The film is the first
theatrical film version of Rostand's original play in color. It is also considerably more lavish, and has more details than previous film versions of the play.
Ranked #43 in
Empire magazines "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema" in 2010.
Plot
Cyrano de Bergerac is a Parisian poet and swashbuckler with a large nose of which he is self-conscious, but pretends to be proud of. He is madly in love with his "friendly cousin" (they were not actually related as cousins), the beautiful Roxane; however, he does not believe she will requite his love because he considers himself physically unattractive. Soon he finds that Roxane has become infatuated with Christian de Neuvillette, a dashing new recruit to the
Cadets de Gascogne, the military unit of which
Cyrano is the captain. Christian however, despite his good looks, is tongue-tied when speaking with women. Seeing an opportunity to vicariously declare his love for Roxane, he decides to aid Christian, who does not know how to court a woman and gain her love.
Cyrano aids...
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