# Cyrano de Bergerac (1990 film)

Cyrano de Bergerac is a 1990 French period comedy-drama film directed by Jean-Paul Rappeneau and based on the 1897 play of the same name by Edmond Rostand, adapted by Jean-Claude Carrière and Rappeneau. It stars Gérard Depardieu, Anne Brochet and Vincent Perez. The film was a co-production between companies in France and Hungary.
The film is the first feature film version of Rostand's original play in colour, and the second theatrical film version of the play in the original French. It is also considerably more lavish and more faithful to the original than previous film versions of the play. The film had 4,732,136 admissions in France.
The film and the performance of Gérard Depardieu won numerous awards, notably 10 of the César Awards of 1991.
Subtitles are used for the non-French market; the English-language version uses Anthony Burgess's translation of the text, which uses five-beat lines with a varying number of syllables and a regular couplet rhyming scheme, in other words, a sprung rhythm. Although he sustains the five-beat rhythm through most of the play, Burgess sometimes allows this structure to break deliberately: in Act V, he allows it to collapse completely, creating free verse.
In 2010, Cyrano de Bergerac was ranked number 43 in Empire magazine's "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema".

## Plot

In 1640, the Gascon poet and swashbuckler Cyrano de Bergerac is self-conscious about his enormous nose, but pretends to be proud of it. He is admired and respected by many people for his bravery and good swordsmanship. He madly loves his cousin, the beautiful Roxane; however, he is sure that she will reject him because of his appearance. To elevate himself in her eyes, he interferes with a play being staged at the Hôtel du Bourgogne, in Paris, and wins a duel with a marquis.
In the second act of the play and film, Cyrano meets with Roxane at her request. He is crushed when Roxane tells him she is infatuated with Christian de Neuvillette, a handsome and dashing new recruit to the Cadets de Gascogne (the military unit in which Cyrano is serving). However, Cyrano learns that Christian is tongue-tied when speaking with women. Seeing an opportunity to vicariously declare his love to Roxane, Cyrano approaches Christian with a proposal: Cyrano will write the love letters, and Christian will woo Roxane with them. Christian agrees.
Cyrano aids Christian, writing heartfelt love letters and poems. Roxane begins to appreciate Christian, not only for his good looks but also his apparent eloquence. She eventually falls in love with him. But the Comte de Guiche, an arrogant and exceptionally powerful older nobleman, also has designs on Roxane. Roxane and Cyrano thwart De Guiche's attempt to visit Roxane by arranging a quick secret marriage between Roxane and Christian. In revenge, De Guiche orders his company of cadets—including Cyrano and Christian—to report immediately for military duty in the Siege of Arras against the Spanish.
The siege is harsh and brutal: the Cadets de Gascogne are starving. Christian does not know that Cyrano escapes over enemy lines twice each day to deliver a love letter written by Cyrano himself but signed with Christian's name, sent to Roxane. These letters draw Roxane out from the city of Paris to the war front to bring food to the troops. Although she has come to visit Christian, she admits to him that she has fallen in love with the author's soul, and would love the author even if he were ugly. Christian tries to find out whether Roxane loves him or Cyrano, and asks Cyrano to find out. However, during the subsequent battle, Christian is mortally wounded. The scene ends with the French returning to the battle.
In the final scene of the play and film, fourteen years later, Roxane has entered a convent and retired from the world. Cyrano has made many enemies with his writings; he is still free, but now poor. During this time, Cyrano has faithfully visited Roxane every week, never declaring his love. On this day, his enemies attack and mortally injure him. Cyrano nevertheless visits Roxane at the convent. When she mentions Christian's last letter, sensing his own mortality, Cyrano asks if he can read it. Roxane gives him the letter, which he reads movingly. Just before Cyrano dies, Roxane realizes that she has loved him all along.

## Cast

* Gérard Depardieu as Cyrano de Bergerac
* Anne Brochet as Roxane
* Vincent Perez as Christian de Neuvillette
* Jacques Weber as Comte Antoine de Guiche
* Roland Bertin as Ragueneau
* Philippe Morier-Genoud as Le Bret
* Pierre Maguelon as Carbon de Castle-Jaloux
* Sandrine Kiberlain as Sister Colette
* Josiane Stoléru as the Duenna
* Philippe Volter as Vicomte de Valvert
* Jean-Marie Winling as Lignière
* Louis Navarre as The Bore
* Gabriel Monnet as Montfleury
* François Marié as Bellerose
* Anatole Delalande as The child
* Alain Rimoux as The father
* Michel Fau as Ragueneau's Poet

## Reception
### Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 100% based on 30 reviews, with a weighted average rating of 7.9/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Love and hope soar in Cyrano De Bergerac, an immensely entertaining romance featuring Gerard Depardieu at his peak." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 79 based on 19 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Roger Ebert from the Chicago Sun-Times awarded the film three and a half stars out of four. In his review on the film, Ebert wrote, "Cyrano de Bergerac is a splendid movie not just because it tells its romantic story, and makes it visually delightful, and centers it on Depardieu, but for a better reason: The movie acts as if it believes this story. Depardieu is not a satirist - not here, anyway. He plays Cyrano on the level, for keeps."
Author and film critic Leonard Maltin awarded the film three and a half out of four stars, calling it "the definitive screen version of the Edmond Rostand perennial". In his review, Maltin praised the film's staging of scenes, while also noting that the film somewhat faltered during the finale by being overextended.

### Accolades

The film was nominated for five Academy Awards at the 1990 ceremony. It marked the second time that an actor had been nominated for Best Actor for his portrayal of Cyrano de Bergerac. (The first time was in 1950, when José Ferrer won the award for his performance in the English-language version of the film.)
| Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result |
| Academy Awards | Best Foreign Language Film | France | Nominated |
| Academy Awards | Best Actor | Gérard Depardieu | Nominated |
| Academy Awards | Best Art Direction | Art Direction: Ezio Frigerio; Set Decoration: Jacques Rouxel | Nominated |
| Academy Awards | Best Costume Design | Franca Squarciapino | Won |
| Academy Awards | Best Makeup | Michèle Burke and Jean-Pierre Eychenne | Nominated |
| British Academy Film Awards | Best Film Not in the English Language | Rene Cleitman, Michel Seydoux, and Jean-Paul Rappeneau | Nominated |
| British Academy Film Awards | Best Actor in a Leading Role | Gérard Depardieu | Nominated |
| British Academy Film Awards | Best Adapted Screenplay | Jean-Paul Rappeneau and Jean-Claude Carrière | Nominated |
| British Academy Film Awards | Best Cinematography | Pierre Lhomme | Won |
| British Academy Film Awards | Best Costume Design | Franca Squarciapino | Won |
| British Academy Film Awards | Best Make-Up | Jean-Pierre Eychenne and Michèle Burke | Won |
| British Academy Film Awards | Best Original Film Score | Jean-Claude Petit | Nominated |
| British Academy Film Awards | Best Production Design | Ezio Frigerio | Nominated |
| British Society of Cinematographers Awards | Best Cinematography in a Theatrical Feature Film | Pierre Lhomme | Won |
| Cannes Film Festival | Palme d'Or | Jean-Paul Rappeneau | Nominated |
| Cannes Film Festival | Best Actor | Gérard Depardieu | Won |
| Cannes Film Festival | Technical Grand Prize | Pierre Lhomme | Won |
| César Awards (1990) | Best Film | Jean-Paul Rappeneau | Won |
| César Awards (1990) | Best Director | Jean-Paul Rappeneau | Won |
| César Awards (1990) | Best Actor | Gérard Depardieu | Won |
| César Awards (1990) | Best Actress | Anne Brochet | Nominated |
| César Awards (1990) | Best Supporting Actor | Jacques Weber | Won |
| César Awards (1990) | Most Promising Actor | Vincent Pérez | Nominated |
| César Awards (1990) | Best Writing | Jean-Claude Carrière and Jean-Paul Rappeneau | Nominated |
| César Awards (1990) | Best Cinematography | Pierre Lhomme | Won |
| César Awards (1990) | Best Costume Design | Franca Squarciapino | Won |
| César Awards (1990) | Best Editing | Noëlle Boisson | Won |
| César Awards (1990) | Best Original Music | Jean-Claude Petit | Won |
| César Awards (1990) | Best Production Design | Ezio Frigerio | Won |
| César Awards (1990) | Best Sound | Pierre Gamet and Dominique Hennequin | Won |
| César Awards (1994) | César des Césars | Jean-Paul Rappeneau | Won |
| Chicago Film Critics Association Awards | Best Foreign Film | Jean-Paul Rappeneau | Nominated |
| Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards | Best Foreign Language Film | Best Foreign Language Film | Nominated |
| Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards | Best Actor | Gérard Depardieu | Nominated |
| David di Donatello Awards | Best Foreign Film | Jean-Paul Rappeneau | Won |
| David di Donatello Awards | Best Foreign Actor | Gérard Depardieu | Nominated |
| European Film Awards | Best Film | France | Nominated |
| European Film Awards | Best Actor | Gérard Depardieu | Nominated |
| European Film Awards | Best Actress | Anne Brochet | Nominated |
| European Film Awards | Best Cinematography | Pierre Lhomme | Nominated |
| European Film Awards | Best Film Composer | Jean-Claude Petit | Nominated |
| European Film Awards | Best Production Design | Ezio Frigerio and Franca Squarciapino | Won |
| Golden Globe Awards | Best Foreign Language Film | France | Won |
| London Film Critics Circle Awards | Foreign Language Film of the Year | France | Won |
| London Film Critics Circle Awards | Actor of the Year | Gérard Depardieu | Won |
| Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards | Best Foreign Language Film | France | Runner-up |
| Nastro d'Argento | European Silver Ribbon | Jean-Paul Rappeneau | Nominated |
| Nastro d'Argento | Best Costume Design | Franca Squarciapino | Won |
| Nastro d'Argento | Best Production Design | Ezio Frigerio | Won |
| National Board of Review Awards | Top Five Foreign Language Films | Top Five Foreign Language Films | Won |
| National Board of Review Awards | Best Foreign Language Film | France | Won |
| New York Film Critics Circle Awards | Best Foreign Language Film | France | Runner-up |
| Toronto International Film Festival | People's Choice Award | Jean-Paul Rappeneau | Won |
| Turkish Film Critics Association Awards | Best Foreign Film | Best Foreign Film | 7th Place |

## Home media

Cyrano de Bergerac was released on DVD by Umbrella Entertainment in May 2005 as part of a collection with the 1950 version. The DVD is compatible with all region codes and includes special features such as the theatrical trailer, Umbrella Entertainment trailers, talent biographies, an interview with Gérard Depardieu and a Roger Ebert review. In February 2009 an Academy Award edition was released by Umbrella Entertainment.