'Cyrano, My Love': Is A Delightful Look At The Creation Of A Classic [Review]

When “Cyrano De Bergerac” first appeared on the stage in Paris, it seemed like a gift from God in an era of canting comedies. Who could have guessed that this failed playwright could write an overnight success literally overnight? No one, apparently. In 19th century Paris, people mocked Edmond Rostand for performing poetry. “Write a comedy!” they told him. And so he did. The journey that follows his path to writing high-brow humor, “Cyrano, My Love,” seems like a gift from God in an era of standard-issue biopics. Alexis Michalik’s feature debut has the heart of a play, the eyes of a comedy and the nose of a poet.

Everyone remembers the nose. Cyrano was one of the most romantic swashbucklers since Shakespeare, with a mouth that could woo any lady. Navigating around that giant nose to get to his mouth, however, was a journey no woman was willing to take. So, he started writing in passionate torrents for his best friend and romantic rival. The letters worked! His pal got the girl and he got loneliness till death (what poet doesn’t?). Things work out better for Edmond himself. Even though his first play is a flop, he goes home to a loving wife (Alice de Lencquesaing) and kids. And he lives in France. With its cobblestone streets, charming cafes and whirling skirts, the country is a playground for aspiring artists, even if the period detail could have used a little more color (like Renoir’s “French Cancan”).

What it lacks in color it makes up for in colorful characters. Michalik has written his characters for entertainment, so they land closer to imagination than real life. Thomas Soliveres plays Edmond. In the first act, his world is falling apart. He doesn’t have any money; his play bombs; every time he kisses his wife it looks as if his fake mustache is going to fall off. Until one day he meets Jeanne (Lucie Boujenah) with his best friend Leo (Tom Leeb). She falls for the brains of Edmond and the brawn of Leo–characteristics both men find in her. What to do, what to do? Edmond decides to give Leo a helping hand by writing her flowery letters under Leo’s name. Sound familiar?

Michalik plays with this idea in a number of ways. For one, the letters he writes help make up the script for “Cyrano De Bergerac.” The entire thing is being made up on the fly. In one memorable scene, Edmond is pitching the unwritten material to an eccentric actor named Constant Coquelin (Olivier Gourmet). “Cyrano likes, Ummm” he hesitates looking around the room, “Birds!” he exclaims having spotted a parrot. The director also chooses an unhurried pace to contrast with Edmond’s hurried deadline. This allows for a whirlwind of delicious side players to take center stage, all of which amount to a whos-who of French actors.

There’s Mathilde Seigner, a prostitute coming into her own as an actress. She’s been cast by a couple of pimps who, doubling as backers, are played by Marc Andreoni and Simon Abkarian. If you think the pimps are flamboyant, Dominique Pinon plays a stage manager so over-the-top that audiences could make him out from the rafters. His son (Igor Gotesman), on the other hand, has a squeaky voice that can barely be heard from the front row. Michalik (the director himself) steals every frame he’s in as the infamous George Feydeau, a loony playwright drunk off his own ego. Micha Lescot even gets a cameo as Chekhov, who hilariously says things like “we are all going to die at some point” surrounded by naked women in a brothel. All of these personalities come together in an opening night for the ages.

The pleasure in watching a backstage movie isn’t just seeing how the product is made, but seeing how the production plays out in the finale. Like “Shakespeare In Love,” not only will you be entranced by the movie, you will also be entranced by the play inside the movie. It’s theatrical in the best sense of the word. All the performances leap off the screen. Giovanni Fiore Coltellacci‘scamera floats through space. Romain Trouillet‘s score doesn’t miss a beat. Everything and everyone come together to match the tone of Edmond’s seminal rom-com, which received a two-hour standing ovation on opening night. While this one might not get standing ovations–it doesn’t take itself seriously enough for that–it will move the romantics in the crowd to tears by the time those curtains close. [B+]