No. 14 (2022) CYRANO Feb. 21st.

 

Film No. 14 (2022)  February 21st.  7:15 PM  PALACE Cinema 4,  Raine Square,  Perth City.

 

"My love for you has the strength of Hercules... Hercules, I need something better than that!"(Christian recites Cyrano's words as he serenades Roxanne from under her balcony).

CYRANO is a sweet musical. Well, I say sweet because the well told story of Cyrano de Bergerac from a play first performed in 1897 has very tragic repercussions indeed. I  maintain, this version is more sweet than tragic. In fact I'm surprised at the M rating, it should be PG.

Joe Wright (ATTONEMENT, HANNA) directs for T.V. (BLACK MIRROR) and film with a good eye for how he'd like us to feel about his characters. Here, along with writer Erica Schmidt, he takes Rotand's play and instead of Cyrano having a long nose, he is height challenged, via the brilliant Peter Dinklage. I say brilliant because Dinklage, (along with the odd musical interlude), is a good reason to see CYRANO.

Haley Bennett's, Roxanne fills the screen with a pure, milky skinned beauty that adds to the film's sweet flavour, and Kelvin Harrison Jr as Christian ticks the third box adequately. Other than that, there is Wright's twist using Dinklage. I'm not certain Wright would feel he achieved all  that he set out to. The fact he shot this during COVID, in a bubble, on the island of Sicily mid last year, meant that with limited locations he settled for a more theatrical interpretation. After all, his writer Schmidt created the original Off-Broadway stage musical.

That said, if you love your musicals then CYRANO will satisfy. The soundtrack, the choreography, the images are faultless. Even if, like me, it's not your genre of choice, there is a lot to like here. And Dinklage, he's big (no pun intended) anyway (GAME OF THRONES), I suggest he's about to get even bigger. And the show stopping musical moment for me is, WHERE EVER I FALL; soldiers sharing the deepest feelings in their their hearts before going into battle. I saved it immediately to my Spotify playlist. 9GUMS

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