I just saw Cyrano, My Love, a wonderful new movie written
and directed by Alexis Michalik that imagines how Edmond Rostand might have
come to write his classic play Cyrano de
Bergerac.
Theresa Rebeck
gave her own account of Cyrano's
creation in Bernhardt/Hamlet, one of
my favorite plays to open in New York last year. Michalik's take is not as psychologically
believable, but it's not supposed to be. Instead, it is a wild, theatrical romp
through the backstage shenanigans of what was predicted to be a disaster,
but ended up becoming one of the most beloved plays of the French theatre.
Thomas Solivérès
plays Rostand, a neo-romantic poet whose recent play La Princesse Lointaine was a flop in spite of starring the divine
actress Sarah Bernhardt. He sets out to write a play for the comic actor Constant
Coquelin (played by Olivier Gourmet), who has his own troubles with the Comédie-Française.
While Coquelin tries to sell the play to backers, there's only one problem: it
isn't written yet.
In scenes
reminiscent of Shakespeare in Love,
Rostand stumbles upon the inspiration he needs. This is largely with help from
a young costumer who becomes his muse, even though (as in Cyrano) she thinks she is in love with a handsome actor whose
letters to her are all penned by Rostand. Sometimes we get scenes right out of
the play, only performed by Rostand and his contemporaries in the film. And
speaking of film, a short by the Méliès brothers even makes an appearance,
leading Rostand to despair that the theatre itself might soon become obsolete.
Much of the fun
of Cyrano, My Love comes from brief
appearances of historical figures of the era, including a consumptive Anton Chekov, waiting patiently downstairs at a Paris brothel while a certain Constantin
is indulging with one of the hostesses. The movie also makes Rostand frenemies
with the farce writer Georges Feydeau, who is shown getting ready to open
another crowd pleaser as Cyrano is
also in rehearsals. Indeed, the movie at times seems more like a crazy Feydeau
farce than the love-sick heroic comedy that made Rostand famous.
