Cyrano
Written by Andreas Babiolakis
During the awards season, I will be covering films that are a part of the discussion that have been out for a while.
Chances are you already know the tale of Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand, and even the musical stage adaptation by Erica Schmidt. Well, get ready for another Joe Wright production: the 2021 musical epic Cyrano, starring Peter Dinklage (who is always welcome on screen, as far as I’m concerned), and, boy, can you tell that Wright directed this from a mile away. Ever since his opus Atonement (a superb adaptation that knows exactly how much of one's own signature style is enough), Wright just seems to go too far with the lavish productions and heightened on-set prestige (the magnificent costumes just got nominated for an Academy Award, rightfully so). His films seem to go on too long, insisting that any connection will come from the strength of his leads and the spectacle of what we see. That isn’t the case. This is a pedestrian film in disguise, with a gorgeous shell on top of constant shallowness.
In case you don’t know the tale of De Bergerac, the story goes that this brilliant wordsmith/duelist is in love with the gorgeous Roxanne, but he is deemed unlovable himself for his appearance (in the original story, his nose is too big. Here, he is labeled as too short). She longs after another: Christian de Neuvillette, of whom De Bergerac lives vicariously through, providing him with the words he wishes he could tell Roxanne himself. It’s a solid story that could be done really well (it has been adapted or interpreted many times cinematically, for better or for worse), and Wright wanted to give an authentically pure version of Schmidt’s musical, with the help of The National’s Dessner twins. While far from the worst version of this story, I can’t help but wonder what Cyrano would look like if it were stripped back a bit with its overdone ambitions. It drags on for too long, its stop-start musical passages feel awkward and forced, and each feeling feels forced rather than earned. We don’t experience the film: we’re dictated it.
Lavish sets and costumes aren’t enough to make Cyrano interesting. Luckily, it also stars Peter Dinklage.
It’s too bad, because there is something pretty likeable here, underneath the unhealthy amounts of glitter and gold. Maybe it’s the original story just working its wonders no matter what, but I occasionally did like Cyrano. This could have also been the magic of Dinklage, who could have easily sneaked his way into the Best Actor category at the Oscars, had the film been more on the map and beloved. It just feels impossible to shy away from his performance, and he’s in nearly every single sequence (save for a mere handful). The cinematography is quite stunning and it does wrap everything well-made and every character well-acted together in a neat little package. Sometimes the songs even levitate what we see, and the whole picture does work. The key word is “sometimes”. With a shorter film and less self indulgence, maybe the illusion would stick even longer. Sadly, once Wright reached his peak with Atonement, he only stuck with the achievements of ambition that he discovered, whilst forgetting the smaller moments where less is more. It was evident in Anna Karenina, Pan, and Darkest Hour (I purposefully avoided The Woman in the Window, but I’ve heard horror stories). Now, we’re here. There’s not much balance in Cyrano: when it’s not occasionally sublime, it’s either too much or too little.
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.