Product Description

One of France's literary treasures commands the screen with this "exceptionally graceful adaptation" (Los Angeles Times) that received a Best Foreign Film Golden GlobeÂ(r) and five OscarÂ(r) nominations*, including Best Actor for Gerard Depardieu! Cyrano (Depardieu), a master swordsman and poet, feels he cannot woo his beloved Roxane (Anne Brochet) due to an unfortunate physical flaw: his grotesquely large nose. Resigning himself to helping another suitor, the dashing yet tongue-tied Christian (Vincent Perez), Cyrano uses his mastery of words to win Roxane forhim. But when Roxane finds that she has fallen for Christian's mindand not for his beautywhich of her two suitors will finally possess her heart? *1990: Foreign Language Film, Art Direction-Set Decoration, Costume Design (won), Makeup

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10592 in DVD
• Brand: MGM HOME VIDEO (UNDER FOX)
• Released on: 2004-02-10
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
• Formats: DVD, Letterboxed, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: French
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 137 minutes

Features

• One of France's literary treasures commands the screen with this "exceptionally graceful adaptation" (Los Angeles Times) that received a Best Foreign Film Golden Globe® and five Oscar® nominations*, including Best Actor for Gerard Depardieu! Cyrano (Depardieu), a master swordsman and poet, feels he cannot woo his beloved Roxane (Anne Brochet) due to an unfortunate physical flaw: h

Amazon.com
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 lend his 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

Customer Reviews

Disappointment in long-awaited release.
I'd been waiting years for this to be released on DVD, it's a fabulous movie, my absolute favorite adaptation of the original play - however, MGM messed up.

This edition is a matted letterbox, which means that it's actually a 4:3 TV image with the full image reduced to fit on the screen of a traditional TV screen and has black mattes on the top and bottom.

However, it should have been presented in anamorphic widescreen - which gives the same presentation on a 4:3 TV but also fits a widescreen television set.

As it is, it will not display properly on a widescreen tv - the image is either stretched out (so that everyone and everything is flat) or is enlarged beyond the border of the tv screen - thus cutting off the subtitles! My wide television has 6 separate display formats but I cannot format a full image on my screen that is not warped or severely cropped. Extremely disappointing.

I'm hoping for a new true anamorphic widescreen edition to be released eventually, but at least I have the film for now.

""We All Have Our Wounds" ~ A Romantic Film For The Ages
Note: French with optional English and Spanish subtitles.

This French language film adaptation of the classic 'Cyrano de Bergerac' released in '90 is without question the most enjoyable 138 minutes in front of the television screen I've experienced in quite some time. Everything about this production is absolute perfection; cinematography, settings, music, screenplay and of course acting.

Gerard Depardieu is an unstoppable force of nature as the eloquent but hot-headed Cyrano. He thunders and rages about one moment only to suddenly turn ethereal and wax poetic the next. The lovely Anne Brochet is a wonderful complement to the blustering Cyrano as his unattainable Roxane and Vincent Perez delivers a strong performance as the handsome but slow tongued Christian.

The dialogue is crisp, textured and witty, however if you're French impaired as I am you'll probably have trouble keeping up with the subtitles. But that's OK, you'll just catch the missing parts the next time you watch and you will definitely watch again and again.

I Take Only My Panache
This is a movie about honor, unrequited love and the best swordsman in all of France.

It is set in Rennaissance France and concerns the love that Cyrano de Bergerac holds for the lovely Roxanne, and the love she bears for Christian, a soldier in his troupe. Roxanne asks Cyrano to help her begin a relationship with Christian, and out of love Cyrano promises to speak to Christian, who enlists Cyrano's aid to woo Roxanne. Cyrano helps Christian by writing beautiful letters. The lovers tale plays out, even as they are surrounded by intrigue, threat of war, and some great swashbuckling action.

Edmond Rostand wrote an incredible tale of honor and this version starring Gerard Depardieu is one of the best presentations of the tale I've seen. Depardieu makes the tragic/heroic character of Cyrano so real that you feel you've lived the story by the end.