Pros: While trite, this film tells a story of young love and loss. Genevieve (Catherine Denueve) is young and deeply in love with Guy (Nino Castelnuovo) only to have him leave to fulfill his mandatory military service. Genevieve feels as though she's going to die and her mother (Anne Vernon) is not sympathetic, having her own struggles to worry as their umbrella shop is in financial straights, only to be saved, in more ways than one by jeweler Roland (Marc Michel) especially after Genevieve reveals that she's pregnant and Guy can't come back to make her an honest woman. I also give the film credit for actually showing Genevieve visibly pregnant something that was quite rare in Hollywood at the film, though this is a French film. The tearful reunion is also incredibly memorable. The acting is great along with the brightly colored set.
Cons: While not a traditional musical, all the dialogue is simplified slightly and sung which is rather annoying and I can't help but feel the subtitles simplified the dialogue even more.
Recommend: Yes
Grade: B+
Side Notes:
-Guy ends up marrying his invalid aunt's caretaker, Madeleine (Ellen Farner) despite knowing the truth about him having a child with another woman.
-The third half focuses on Guy getting his shit together and marrying Madeleine while I feel given that Genevieve was so much of the focus for the first two parts, the film should have continued to focus on her and her marriage to the utterly devoted Roland, but maybe the film decided to focus on the guy's point of view though I feel it fails to truly show Guy's true emotions.
-Both Guy and Genevieve end up naming their firstborns the French version of Frankie, Genevieve's is a daughter while Guy and Madeleine have a son.
-No wonder the store is in financial straights, it only sells umbrellas.
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