Nino Castelnuovo and Chaterine Deneuve star as a young couple, hopelessly in love. He's a 20-year-old mechanic and she's a 17-year-old who works in a shop (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg) with her mother (Anne Vernon).
The couple's ready to get married, but Deneuve's mom thinks she's too young for that kind of commitment. The shop is also hurting for money and might have found a savior in a rich dude who shows up with the hots for Deneuve (Marc Michel).
Castelnuovo, on the other hand, lives with his sickly aunt (Mireille Perrey) and her lovely young caretaker (Ellen Farmer). He's also on the verge of being drafted and shipped off to Algeria.
The first thing you notice about this movie is how beautiful it is to look at. The colors pop out of every shot, costume and set, as vibrant as if you were there. Actually, even more vibrant than that. At the center of all of this beauty is Deneuve herself, who is improbably perfect for her role. The film was restored in the 90s and looks as if it was shot yesterday.
The next thing you notice is the singing. This isn't just a musical -- every line of dialogue is sung. This could be annoying (see LES MISERABLES for an example) but somehow it isn't here. I don't know if it's because they're singing in French or if it's just that the movie is put together so well, but you don't even notice after a while. It seems totally natural.
The cool thing about this movie is that while it looks and sounds about as deep as cotton candy (which is to say, shallow), it actually has a pretty mature and sobering message. Without giving too much away, let's just say young love doesn't necessarily work out and that's not exactly a tragedy. The final scene of this movie is so bittersweet and perfect that it would have made this one a classic even if the rest hadn't already been good.
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