Cyrano | A very convincing adaptation ★★★½

In a distant time, the blacksmith Cyrano, in love with the beautiful Roxanne, is careful not to declare his feelings to her because he does not like her appearance. One day, Roxanne confides to him that she is in love with Christian, a royal guard. Knowing how to handle the verb, Cyrano puts into Christian’s mouth what he is burning to say himself to his beloved.

Andre Duchesne
The Press

We did not expect anything from this new adaptation of Cyrano. The first minutes of the film, with these floury, burlesque and dangerously caricatural characters, seemed to prove us right. And then… no!

Beyond our too hasty impression, the majestic and very realistic nature of the whole thing quickly unfolded before our eyes, imposed on our hearts.

This first scene, at the theater, precisely, has something very tender with these spectators piled up a little anyhow on the floor, its wobbly decorum, its loaded decor, certainly, but without ostentation.

All this seemed very convincing to us. And this was transposed in several passages. At the baker’s for example or, even better, in a formidable nocturnal scene of a sword battle where Cyrano, alone against several opponents, wins without fanfare before melting into the night.

Speaking of the night, this Cyrano is dark as hell. The film is crossed by several sequences of shadows, chiaroscuros, nights with a heavy atmosphere. The lighting work is remarkable.

It should be noted that director Joe Wright (Atonement, Anna Karenina, Darkest Hour) is not the last comer.

That said, a good Cyrano does not exist without an excellent interpretation. And here we are served. Peter Dinklage throws in his character of a man embarrassed by his size, but yet so alert, so loyal and so skilled with words. The comedian is flawless from start to finish.

Dinklage and Haley Bennett also resume their roles of Cyrano and Roxanne embodied on stage, in an off-Broadway production. They know them like the back of their hand and manage the transition to the big screen with flying colors, which is not always the case (remember the horrible Dear Evan Hansen last year).

The soundtrack was written by brothers Bryce and Aaron Dessner, of the American group The National, with the collaboration of singer Matt Berninger and his wife Carin Besser. The interpretation is variable with less successful passages and others (Wherever I Fall) very convincing.

Cyrano is presented in the original English version, subtitled in French and dubbed in French.

Indoors

musical drama

Cyrano

Joe Wright

With Peter Dinklage, Haley Bennett and Kelvin Harrison Jr.

2:04 a.m.

★★★½