Cyrano

Have you ever wanted something so badly you cannot breathe? Have you ever loved someone so madly?

There are two main ways this differs from most adaptations of Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac play. One is that it's a musical, with moments when the lead characters burst into song. There's still a lot of dialogue and a fair chunk of it sticks with Rostand's rhyming couplets. The songs themselves are a mixed bag and none are likely to be remembered as classic songs from musicals. However, the way they are staged is superb with some wonderful dance numbers which work well in context of the setting. 

The other difference is the casting with Peter Dinklage in the lead role. This means that rather than giving Cyrano a facial disfigurement as he is normally depicted this Cyrano is self-conscious about his dwarfism. I thought was a change that worked really effectively, neatly folding into the narrative of the original play whilst making the character more interesting. Dinklage is great here and it's so fantastic to see him have the lead role in a major film. 

I really like how this is a really sympathetic take on the story. As a viewer I totally understood why Cyrano was writing letters to his desired woman Roxanne under Christian's name. It increasingly feels as the film progresses that Cyrano can't win despite the fact he deserves to and the film becomes increasingly more heart-breaking as it goes on. It's not exactly what you'd call a feel-good film.

Superbly well-directed and brilliantly acted, Cyrano is just a couple of decent songs away from being an exceptional film.