The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)

In the innovative film THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG, Jacques Demy pays loving homage to the Hollywood musical as well as the French melodrama. The film is shot in Cherbourg, France, using inventive cinematography and blazing colors and textures. Local life is rendered in pink, orange, green, and blue. Wallpapers and umbrella patterns, sweaters and hats, cars and gas stations--each element of the film contributes to the exuberant color and exalted mood. The film is also unique in the sense that every word is sung. The fertile collaboration between Demy and legendary French composer Michel Legrand reaches its climax in the light opera structure and lilting and memorable songs that make up the plot. Catherine Deneuve is the fresh and beautiful 16-year-old Genevieve, pining away in her mother's umbrella shop. When she falls in love with the charming local auto mechanic, Guy (Nino Castelnuovo), worlds collide. The young couple who, in their innocence, believe that love can overcome all obstacles, face many of them, including Genevieve's disapproving mother, an unexpected pregnancy, and Guy's induction into the French Army. Joy and melancholy suffuse every aspect of the film, which explores both the transience of love and the persistence of affection--motifs that Demy would further develop in his follow-up musical, THE YOUNG GIRLS OF ROCHEFORT.