Cyrano – An Emotional Spectacle Musical

Let’s just face it, the theatrical release strategy of Cyrano was fumbled to say the least though certain circumstances were outside of the control of studios with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic still an issue across North America. Believed to be a major award contender, it missed out on any major nominations which was a shame but nevertheless, is now upon us. It is arguably safe to say that given the right circumstances, the film could have done better. Musicals are a divisive genre be it for their songs, music, or the production aspect of it all. Where these films succeed or fail is how they straddle the line between music and story regardless of spectacle. When it comes to this film, it was not originally a musical, based on the play Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand. However, it does not lose sight of what it is as the film brings plenty of entertaining spectacle to the table while delivering on the story, led by the effortless charisma of Peter Dinklage.

For those unfamiliar with the story, Cyrano tells the story of Cyrano de Bergerac (Dinklage), a brilliant swordsman and wordsmith in spite of his appearance which he believed held him back from and would never be worthy of such things as love therefore he never tried to pursue the object of his affection, his close friend Roxanne (Bennett). Unfortunately for him, he was not the only pursuer of Roxanne. Her eye was ultimately on a young man for whom she met by chance in what was love at first sight named Christian (Harrison Jr.), a rookie guard in the same regiment as Cyrano. A headstrong and independent woman with a penchant for words, she earned herself a few suitors beyond Cyrano and Christian. Indebted to her, Cyrano still wanted to support his friend so he was asked by Roxanne to take Christian under his wing and protect him and also encourage him to write love letters to her for which she would do for him in return. Unfortunately for Christian, he was nowhere near the level of wordsmith that Cyrano was when expressing his feelings.

Cyrano saw this and perhaps took it as an opportunity to live vicariously through Christian by offering to write his love letters to Roxanne for him as he remained on the periphery from his friendship with Roxanne. As she and Christian continued to correspond, their love for one another kept growing, making that deception get harder to maintain as Cyrano could only watch. While they were still friends, his repressed feelings and the subsequent internal conflict wore on him the more Roxanne seemingly slipped further and further away into the hands of Christian. That being said, the idea of a person one may form in their minds versus the person themselves proved to be something that could either make or break the fantasy that the three have created. Something clearly had to give as reality set in as Christian struggled to embody the persona from his letters thus creating an opening until a war threw a wrench into those plans, making a happy ending not a sure thing as far as the main characters were concerned. However, one can’t help but root for Cyrano and Christian to survive so they can go back to Roxanne though both returning is unlikely. In the end, the film delivers a satisfying ending. 

As mentioned, Cyrano beautifully straddles the line between music and story. Sprinkling a handful of spectacular well-produced numbers throughout, they entertained with their technical mastery and catchy songs (repeated by other characters to add depth) but most importantly, they did not distract from the story. Though that technical mastery was the case throughout the film, boasting some beautiful cinematography and costumes along with a stunning score. At the end of the day, the film would not have worked if not for the charisma of Dinklage as the titular character. He was an absolute force and the emotional heart of the film with a movie star performance that takes audiences on a journey. Meanwhile, Bennett was also a force as Roxanne who was a compelling character and more than just the object of the affection of multiple men. Harrison Jr. had plenty of charisma of his own and youthful energy as Christian.

Overall, Cyrano is a musical that plays differently by delivering the best of both worlds without overdoing either. This one deserves to be seen. 

 still courtesy of MGM

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.