Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #49021 in DVD
• Released on: 2000-11-20
• Rating: Universal, suitable for all
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Full Screen, PAL
• Original language: French
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 132 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Director Jean-Paul Rappeneau and cowriter Jean-Claude Carriere had the brilliant idea of casting France's most lovably vulnerable hunk, the massive Gerard Depardieu, in one of French literature's meatiest roles: the sword-wielding poet Cyrano. Equipped with a massive nose and a heart to match, Depardieu soars as the heart-broken soldier who must lendhis words of love to another man to woo the woman he yearns for. Rappeneau spared no expense in taking this Edmond Rostand play into realistic locations for the battle scenes in the second act, making the film as exciting as it is romantic and funny. Depardieu attacks the role in great gulps, consuming all the oxygen in any room he enters. Macho but sensitive, he creates a larger-than-life Cyrano, whose wrenching sadness at the lack of interest from his lady love will have you reaching for the tissues. --Marshall Fine

Special Features
4:3 Full Frame
DVD 9
French
Region 0
Dolby Digital French
Dolby Digital
Interview
Production Notes
Scene Selection
Star And Directors Filmographies
Still Gallery
English

Synopsis
Gerard Depardieu won the Best Actor award at Cannes for his performance as Cyrano in this lavish adaptation of Edmond Rostand's 1897 play. Academy Award Nominations: 4, including Best Actor--Gerard Depardieu. Academy Awards: Best Costume Design.

Customer Reviews

Fab film - rotten transfer to DVD
One of my favourite films and a delight on almost every level - the language is so lilting, the poetry so beautifully timed that it makes you want to improve your French just so you can understand it better...

The only drawback here, as another reviewer has noted, is the comparatively poor visual quality. How can a film made only 15 years ago be in such bad shape? It wasn't a deal-breaker for me - in some ways the slightly musty quality enhances the Renaissance feel of the story - but try as I might, getting a widescreen image ratio on my TV meant the subtitles dropped off the bottom of the screen. Frustrating.

However, I still had to have it - and in all honesty the shortcomings were forgotten after about ten minutes when the magnificent story took over.

Very disappointing visual quality - I returned my copy
This DVD has appalling image quality which is a terrible shame as the movie itself is wonderful. I returned my copy as I felt a VHS video would provide comparable is not superior image quality. There are no advantages to owning a DVD copy of this film, the extra features are very poorly done, and there is no facility to turn off subtitles. Shame as I was waiting for the DVD release of this French masterpiece with anticipation.

The French Film You have to see (with subtitles only!)
Often cast in contemporary films, Depardieu seems most in his element in classical and historical roles. The role of Cyrano is, of course, a feast for any actor, but Depardieu seems especially attuned to its physical and verbal demands. He's so assured in the part that he doesn't require the heavy makeup used in the Martin and Ferrer movies. This Cyrano almost doesn't need a monstrous nose to lend poignancy to his unrequited love for Roxane.

It is no accident that Depardieu is recognized more for the larger-than-life characters he played in Danton and The Return of Martin Guerre than for the modern neurotics of Too Beautiful For You or Mon Oncle D'Amerique. He directed an unfortunately neglected 1984 adaptation of Tartuffe, in which he also made the most of the leading role; it remains the only film he's chosen to make on his own.

Cyrano isn't all Cyrano, fortunately. Anne Brochet makes a splendid Roxane, as demanding in her way as Cyrano, and Vincent Perez is convincingly callow as Christian, the young soldier who loves her but is forced to use Cyrano's words to tell her. Jacques Weber, a well-known stage Cyrano, does a fine job of emphasizing the complexity in the role of De Guiche, who is, for a while, the arch-enemy of both Cyrano and Christian.

Exceptionally well-photographed by Pierre Lhomme (Maurice, Camille Claudel), with a suitable score by Jean-Claude Petit and deftly written, rhyming English subtitles by Anthony Burgess, this Cyrano will introduce Rostand to the same generation that had its first brush with Shakespeare last year with the release of Henry V. It's a more traditional adaptation, with nothing radical to add, but it demonstrates the virtues of making the play the thing.