Cyrano, review of Joe Wright’s jewel

A soft and suffused light falls on Noto and Syracuse, cities chosen by the director Joe Wright for his version of Cyrano de Bergerac, famous work by Edmond Rostand. Already presented on the occasion of the Rome Film Fest, Cyrano is a transposition in which Cyrano loses his comic and grotesque features due to the big nose “that precedes him” and is part of a broader discourse on the concept of freak, on the diversity perceived by a gaze coded according to precise standards, but which are ready to waver in front of the power of a soul like that of Cyrano masterfully interpreted by Peter Dinklage, that after showing Tyrion Lannister’s strategic skills in Game of Thrones, he presents himself to the public with a histrionic art made of glances, smiles hinted at and broken against pride and hope. And, above all, she demonstrates – like the whole cast, on the other hand – that she has truly amazing singing skills, especially in terms of expressiveness. Why the Cyrano by Joe Wright is a musical that is based on the notes written by The National.

The story – for those who still don’t know it – is that of Cyrano, a man full of poetry, who weighs every word and gives it a weight that remains in the heart and stomach. But the beauty of his soul clashes with his physical appearance, which is not such as to allow him to confess his feelings to the beautiful Roxane (Haley Bennett) her childhood friend who undergoes the court of Duke De Guiche (Ben Mendelsohn), of which she is not at all in love. One day, however, Roxane catches eyes with cadet Christian (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) and the outbreak of a sudden and unexpected love lights up her cheeks and heart. Too bad that Christian does not know in any way how to write the love letters that Roxane expects: this is how an agreement will be born between the two men. Christian will use the words of Cyrano, who in this way, hidden behind the beauty of the subject, will be able to confess to her beloved of her those things that he never had the courage to say openly, for fear of being laughed at.

The story of Cyrano De Bergerac is a story that traces old archetypes and mice that never really went out of fashion and that never ceased to ensnare: the impossible love between a beauty and a “beast”, a man who feels too ugly and too much ridiculous to claim the love of a beautiful woman. And there is always something poignant about someone’s desire to be seen beyond the cage of their appearance. But in Cyrano this reflection also affects beauty itself, and this is where the greatness of an immortal work lies. The desire to be loved for who one is and not for the way one appears is a desire that unites both the “ridiculous” Cyrano as well as the handsome Christian, who realizes that he is nothing, in the eyes of his beloved. , without the shield of the words written by Cyrano. And Joe Wright perfectly manages to render all this with a direction that leaves traces of his style, clearly recognizable: like the reflection from the window of a carriage (very similar to a scene seen in The darkest hour), or the entrance into a gloomy room, decorated with a mirror, in a long shot (as happens, for example, in Pride and Prejudice).

Cyrano is a film that is built through the ability of light to give solidity to what is ephemeral: the close-ups, the details of the curled hair, the fingers that touch words where the ink is poured together with the tears, are microscopic elements that make the general layout much wider, more stable and full of that wonder that for centuries has pushed people to look up in front of a work of art. The stage system, through which the direction moves with the graceful touch of a sigh in love, is one of those to take your breath away, which make you hear the sound of the waves breaking on the pale stone of Sicily, where the earthy flavor of the earth dances with long dazzling rays of sunshine, creating an a-temporal and a-spatial dimension. A non-place where time stands still, where everything seems possible. With a heart-wrenching soundtrack and perfect interpretations, Cyrano is one of the best movies you will see this year.

Evaluation of Erika Pomella:
9 on 10