#111 - Cyrano de Bergerac

There is a part of me that looks forward to watching some of the older Oscar winning movies. It kind of has to do with the same idea behind me no sequels first rule. I like to see what came before so that I have a better understanding or point of reference of where other movies come from. But there's something particular about the Oscar winners that I like. I think it's because they are supposed to the best, and therefore, my mind puts them down as "the" point of reference for everything else. I don't always agree with what I see, as in The Great Ziegfeld, but at least I have that perspective. I will admit that I get more geeked up for the pop culture type of movies, but I watch those for different reasons. I have another set of standards for them, and expect different results. It's the way it should be. You can't watch an art house movie through the same glasses as a summer blockbuster, and vice versa. It does a disservice to both.

Needless to say, mostly because the picture says so, this is one of those older Oscar winners. And I bet you can guess what award it won, and who won it. That's right, Jose Oscar Ferrer. What? Oscar isn't his middle name? Oh...right. Anyways, this guy is good. Without taking the time to see who else was nominated, it's easy to see why he won. It is amazing to see how in control of his character and the material he is. Every move, inflection, gesture, and glance is carefully planned out, and there are no wasted movements. Everything he does serves the ultimate purpose of the character and the script. I was unbelievably captivated by his abilities.

The movie itself was well done, especially if you like theatre. It was essentially a play shot for the big screen. One set per scene. Scenes broken up into different acts. Not a whole lot of adaptation done in the way of the script, but they did make a good effort to vary up the camera angles in the scenes. It helped make that aspect of the movie more interesting, which I think is important for a style choice that doesn't always lend itself to great cinema. That, or they really wanted to give you every possible look at the nose, which I think has nostril size inconsistencies through the movie. All I'm saying is that at some times it looked like one nostril was bigger than the other, and at other times it looked like they were the same. This is not a critcism because I dont wan't to be a film continuity geek. Just something I may have noticed. It's not confirmed. I could be totally wrong.