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Rating: 4.5 out of 5
You are going to laugh at this. Based on the title and picture, I was trying to figure out the film Cyrano de Bergerac. I couldn’t make it out, but I thought I’d seen the name from somewhere but couldn’t figure it out. All I could think of for a while was how big the dude’s nose was. As I watched, something was bothering me because I’ve know this movie or play from somewhere. After watching this film and really enjoying it, I was sitting around and then BOOM, it dawned on me. I saw this story years ago when I was a little kid. It was one of the stories from a TV show called Wishbone. Wishbone was a freaking fantastic show. Who wouldn’t love a little dog daydreaming about being the lead character of classic books? I was all about Wishbone back in the day. Kids don’t have shows like that anymore.
Sorry, got off track with Wishbone. I really didn’t know what to expect from this movie, but I was fully invested after the first fifteen minutes of this film because it grabbed you and didn’t let go from the performance of José Ferrer. Cyrano de Bergerac is based on the Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand. This awesome film is set in seventeenth-century Paris. In a Paris theater, a play is shown to a packed house. After a painful performance is delivered by lead actor Montfleury, a full-of-himself heckler in a box disrupts the play and says it is nothing but trash. That heckler is none other than Cyrano de Bergerac (Ferrer), a poet and badass swordsman who is unmatched in skill. Cyrano says he can’t stand the actor’s style and tells the actor to begone by the count of three. Cyrano is a freakin BOSS. Cyrano goes in hard on the playwright and theater manager, even going as far as to throw money at them. Now, shit gets crazy as Cyrano’s distant cousin and FOINE Roxane (Powers) is in another box with her homegirl (Farmer); the Comte de Guiche (Clanton), who is her admirer; and the Vicomte de Valvert (Cavens), an arrogant aristocrat who can’t stand Cyrano and makes the biggest mistake in the world. Out loud, he tries to shame Cyrano about his enormous nose. As Kevin Hart would say, “It’s about to go down.”
This leads to a duel between Cyrano and Vicomte. I will let you know right now; this wasn’t a duel; this was an ass-whipping. Cyrano whopped that man’s ass by mocking everything about the man. Cyrano even went as far as to come up with different insults that Vicomte could come up with about his nose. It was fun to watch because Cyrano takes it even one step forward by composing a poem and reciting it during the duel. Cyrano goes to another level during his duel and, during the climax, stabs his opponent and walks off like the boss he is. Cyrano’s friend tries to warn him he just pissed off some very powerful people, but Cyrano laughs and walks off.
Things become awkward as Cyrano states that he saw the actor trying to make moves on Roxane during the play. Cyrano love loves his cousin but doesn’t think he is good enough because of his large nose. Cyrano’s boy asks him to come to dinner, but Cyrano says he gave all his money away before the play. A fruit seller hears this and invites Cyrano to a buffet, but this man is too good and only accepts a grape, a sip of water, and half a macaroon. This is my idol now; you must have mad respect and confidence. Cyrano’s boy says that he shouldn’t be worried about his nose because the fruit seller, who is FOINE, was hitting on him. It’s all about personality, confidence, and your aura; Cyrano has it all.
While waiting for pastries, Cyrano pisses off more people with his review of a fellow poet’s work named Ragueneau. Ragueneau sends a group of men after Cyrano. Cyrano hears that it is a hundred men and gets excited. When he sees that it is only five or six men, homeboy gets depressed because it’s not a challenge for him. Once again, this dude is on a different level.
This is what I love about this story and character. He is a badass, cocky, and you want to see him lose, but he is so good that you can only take it. Most of the story revolves around this love affair between Cyrano, Roxane, and Christian de Neuvillette, a rookie guardsman. The day before Cyrano is about to tell his feelings to Roxane, she says she has fallen in love with a guardsman named Christian but has never spoken and wants Cyrano to protect her beloved. This devastates Cyrano, but he agrees. Christian is TERRIBLE talking to Roxanne and Cyrano jumps in like Romeo and spits that game. That is the love triangle throughout the film. You know how you make a love triangle even messier? Add in a scorn pursuer. Comte De Guiche, who was trying to shoot his shot at Roxane, pressures her to marry him. Cyrano jumps in and delays the man so Roxane can wed Christian. Cyrano is a great wingman, even if his heart is broken.
This story gets even wilder as time progresses. People call on the church to stop Cyrano and send him into battle, where he has no qualms about fighting. This dude lives for fighting. Everyone around Cyrano knows that this dude has a way with words and the sword. Yet, I don’t want to spoil the ending; dude got caught off guard for a stupid reason. Dude has a big nose, but he didn’t hear shit when you should. That’s the only thing I didn’t like about the film, but everything else was great.
This film was carried by lead star José Ferrer. Ferrer embodied this role and showed Cyrano as a man of great intelligence, a way with words since he was a poet, an expectational swordsman, and somewhat of a madman who loves violence. Dude looks for violence and seems to be untouchable when it comes to swords. Ferrer showed all the greatness in Cyrano but also his flaws. No matter how confident he is, he is very sensitive about his nose, thinking of it as a deformity, and he has difficulty talking to someone he loves. I thought Ferrer was brilliant in this role, and he deserved his Academy Award.
Cyrano de Bergerac is a film carried by the exceptional performance of José Ferrer. It revolves around a man with a huge nose who has the best sword skills and is a poet who will shame you with words. The story is good with the love triangle, but you will be captured by the sword fights and Ferrer. Watch this film because it is one of the best classics.
