Word: cherbourg
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...Umbrellas of Cherbourg...
...this era of outrageous, genrebending, over-the-top films, it seems imposible that a mere "musical" first released in 1964 could shock our desensitized ninties selves. But the newly re-released "Umbrellas of Cherbourg," a sung-through, "faux technicolor" kitsch-binge, is downright obscene in its shameless, ecstatic campiness...
Totalitarian tackiness extends to every aspect of this lighter-than-air film. The plot is lovingly predictable. Sixteen year old Genvieve (Catherine Deneuve) is leered at by almost every male in the village of Cherbourg where she works in her mother's umbrella store. She falls for the earnestly handsome automechanic Guy(Nino Castelnuovo) who ruins everything by being drafted. Before leaving for Algeria, he somewhat deviously impregnates her, perhaps to be sure she'll 'wait for him'. But his plan backfires when the pregnant, helpless Genvieve is married off to the rich, wolf-like diomand dealer Roland Cassard (Marc...
...Several times the women are dressed in the same garish material as the walls before which they stand, so that their bodies appear to disappear and their heads and arms seem to bob like other-worldly banshees in midair. Visual indulgences like these are the delight of Demy, whose Cherbourg is a radioactive collection of tuqouise, yellow, red and lime-green. These colors radiate from the outsides and insides of the buildings and on the clothing of every man, woman, and child who passes on the street. Even the mechanics wear azure blue shirts under their coveralls. The effect...
...would mean certain death. So the 58-day voyage of the Akatsuki Maru, which exposed a 1.7- ton cargo of plutonium oxide to treacherous seas and possibly even to pirates lusting for nuclear booty, made plenty of people nervous. When the hot shipment finally completed its journey from Cherbourg, France, to Tokai, Japan, 140 km (90 miles) northeast of Tokyo, it was greeted by 1,000 protesters, some of whom had painted the universal radiation warning symbol on their faces. The crowd eventually dispersed and the cargo was nestled safely in an ultrasecure storage facility, but the controversy...