Musical classic
Seventeen-year-old Genevieve works in her mother's shop and sells umbrellas. Meanwhile, she falls in love with a young man with a strange name, Guy, who also loves her. They go to the theater, walk around the night Sherburg, in general, do all the things that normal people at their age should do, but that Guy came to the summons in the army, in which he is taken away for 2 years, and at that time the conflict flares up in Algeria, he leaves, they swear loyalty to each other, but will Genevieve be able to keep his love in this difficult situation or do everything according to her mother’s plan?
The musical is a very strange and beautiful genre. I was completely convinced of that after watching this movie. If, for example, American musicals are made like this: take some famous songs, at certain moments everyone jumps out of their seats and starts singing and dancing, and it always looks very cool. But the Europeans, as I've seen from this film, are quite different. The whole movie is a musical. There are no distinctions, no songs at all, the whole film is one solid song. Not a single word is said here, all phrases are sung to music. And each character of the film has a certain melody to which he sings his words. It's beautiful.
Personally, I am very far from politics. Of course, I heard about the conflict between France and Algeria, but superficially, but as it turned out, you can create a great melodrama on any military topic. This picture reminds me of the film Casablanca, there were also a few similar motives, mostly plot, and in this film. It's about love in war. Everyone is happy until the fateful hour comes when you have to get on the train, wave goodbye, confident that everything will be fine, but in fact you already realize that even if you return, it will never be the same as before. Everyone can understand the film in their own way. Many will say that it is about betrayal, others will say that it is about the difficult fate of young Geneva, and that in comparison with her torments, Guy’s life in Algeria may seem like paradise. I don’t even know which group to belong to, rather to the second, because Guy’s life abroad has not been shown at all, which, by the way, I consider a minus of the film. The subject is not fully disclosed. The film does not allow the viewer to take sides, and Guy’s torment after returning does not prove anything, as they say the train has left.
Catherine Deneuve, who starred in this film, has forever become known both in France and around the world, the music for the film forever fell into the hearts of those who have heard it at least once, Jacques Demi became famous. This film was both the dawn and the sunset of his directorial career, since he did not shoot anything else. So it is safe to say that the film is in many ways epochal and deservedly carries the status of a classic.
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