The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Les Parapluies de Cherbourg)

Two individuals standing outside in a snowy environment, near a gas station with falling snow creating a wintry scene.

Among most enchanting films in French cinema history, Jacques Demy's The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is a somber but striking French New Wave musical. A young Catherine Deneuve plays an umbrella-shop owner’s delicate daughter, glowing with first love for a handsome garage mechanic, played by Nino Castelnuovo. When the boy is shipped off to fight in the Algerian War, she is left alone to manage the consequences of their last night together and the pressures of her meddling mother.

Exquisitely designed in a kaleidoscope of colors, and told entirely through the lilting songs of the great composer Michel Legrand, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is one of the most revered and unorthodox movie musicals of all time. Demy's dazzling tale of heartbreak has recently been restored in 4K by Ciné-Tamaris by Éclair Classics and L.E. Diapason labs, Paris, with support from the CNC, CHANEL, & SACEM.

Part of our "French Film Festival" and "Restorations & Rediscoveries" series. Courtesy of Janus Films. In French with English subtitles.

Our French Film Festival is supported by Albertine Cinematheque,, a program of Albertine Foundation & Villa Albertine, with support from the CNC / Centre National du Cinema, and SACEM / Fonds Culturel Franco-Américain. Cosponsored by the Department of Romance Studies.

Please note: The Umbrellas of Cherbourg also screens on Saturday, March 22, as a double feature with Damien Chazelle's La La Land, for which it served as an important source of inspiration.