WHAT WORKED
Peter Dinklage.
From one of his earliest roles as Miles Finch (Elf, 2003) to his famous portrayal of Tyrion Lannister in the HBO series Game of Thrones, I’ve been a fan. You just get the feeling that he’s never acting. That he really is every character he’s playing. I think he’s excellent.
The utterly gut-wrenching scene when Roxanne reveals her confession to Cyrano was one of the most incredible, pure scenes of emotion I’ve ever seen. Dinklage makes you feel the stomach-twisting pain of unrequited love and the cringy realization that you’re being made a fool. Even with the lingering embellishments of stage acting that he brings before the camera, his performance is effective. It holds the story together and makes the emotions believable.
Peter Dinklage alone is what recommends this movie. 100%. For all of the film’s faults, I would recommend and rewatch solely based on the glimpse Dinklage gives us into the devastation of unrequited love and missed opportunities. His last words of the film honestly haunt me. I don’t want to spoil it for anyone who has not yet been exposed to any iteration of Cyrano de Bergerac, but ooo, I can’t hold it in! Here’s just one line:
“And I loved my pride.”
WHAT DIDN’T WORK
Stage Acting Methods
It is interesting to me, and irritating, that the cast is mostly unable to shake the stage acting with which the stage musical originates. Similar to the faults of Fences (2016), the stage acting methods and overly bright and exaggerated vocal intonations rob the story of its authenticity and put a curtain between the viewer and the screen.
This is the movies. There shouldn’t be any curtains.
The beauty of film is total immersion. And close-ups! There’s no need to overact in filming; the camera can catch even the slightest expression in the hands of a skilled cinematographer. Stage acting doesn’t have that advantage. Actors have to be a bit more animated so the people in the back can catch their emotions and reactions. It’s expected and understandable and adds to the experience of watching a stage play but disrupts the experience of a film.
Joe Wright, who also directed period dramas like Pride & Prejudice (2005), Atonement (2007), and Anna Karenina (2012), all serious dramas, I think, was out of his depth with Cyrano. Yes, Cyrano is a romantic drama, but its musical flourishes mean it takes on a very different tone, one Wright was not apt to tackle with tact.
Soundtrack
As far as the music goes, only one or two songs were musically worthy (and that’s putting it generously, folks) of the story’s gravitas and a lyrical match for Cyrano’s wordsmithing. One was “I Need More,” sung by the talented Haley Bennett. The other songs fell flat. Quite literally at times.
In addition to their ballads, The Dessner Duo of The National attempt to achieve the same rousing rhythms over which Lin Manuel Miranda is a master in songs like “When I Was Born”. They try to meld the poetry of Shakespeare and the spoken word with modern rhythms, but the rhythms never hit right. I was really surprised that more care wasn’t taken in crafting their lyrics (again, “I Need More” was the only song that came close). The film is about a man who “dazzles with his ferocious wordplay” (that’s a direct quote from Googles description of the movie, by the way) and yet has him singing some banal end-of-life unimaginative feel-good hot air:
“Heaven is wherever I fall / Tell ’em not to cry at all”.
It’s weird because the whole story is about the beauty and elevation of sophisticated and poetic language, and its power to woo. But the music and lyrics are empty and rudimentary. They are dull and do exactly what Roxanne blames Christian for when he blurts out, “I love you”.
I just expected the lyrics to be much more intelligent.
I Need More.
Having said that, I did listen to the soundtrack again in my car. Other than the sorry state of a few vocalists, the music really isn’t half bad. I had “Someone to Say” stuck in my head all day. Even so, the music poorly reflected the grandeur and depth of Cyrano’s plight.
Strange Choreography
Let’s talk about the choreography. While Cyrano waits for Roxanne to come to see him and he sings “Madly”, a strange bread-making lyrical dance ensues. It was an odd thing for me to watch. I could not make sense of the overt flour-dusted sensuality. In fact, Roxanne’s lyrical dance while reading her first letter from Christian (ghostwritten by Cyrano) while she sings “Every Letter” was equally as awkward to watch. I get it that the director wanted to illustrate the seductive quality of Cyrano’s words, but you know what a better way to have done that would have been? Through the words. The dialogue and lyrics, and even a true sampling of his letters, would have been more effective than a shirtless man baking bread. Again, it felt like they did not take the time to fully translate this stage musical to film.
Question to Consider:
- Is Cyrano really helping Roxanne and Christian by enabling a false sense of romance between them?
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Authors Note: Thank you for reading my article and I hope you enjoyed it. Feel free to hold down those little clapping hands till they hit 50 and leave your thoughts or links to articles you’ve written or think might be of interest. If you’d like to see more of my writing, check out some related posts.
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