An Original Film Musical

Feb 3, 2013

Here’s the link to the poignant love theme song in

“Les Parapluies de Cherbourg” (“The Umbrellas of Cherbourg”):-

The film won the Palme d’Or award at the 1964 Cannes

Film Festival. It catapulted Catherine Deneuve to stardom and brought world

fame to Michel Legrand’s music.

It is a heart wrenching love story in which two

Cherbourg lovers (Genevieve and Guy) were separated by Guy being drafted into

military service for the Algerian War. The fateful separation was accentuated

by the irony that Genevieve’s pregnancy - a result of lovemaking just prior to Guy’s

departure – caused their eventual permanent breakup, as it led to Genevieve’s

mother insisting (for practical reasons) that she should marry a wealthy businessman

in Guy’s absence. Upon Guy’s return from the war, he felt heart-broken for a

while and then married another girl who had always been in love with him, and

later had a son with her. In the last episode, Genevieve showed up in a

Mercedes with her (and Guy’s) daughter at the gas station which Guy had bought

with an inheritance from his aunt. Genevieve got out of the car to go inside

the station to chat with Guy. When Genevieve asked Guy whether he wished to

meet “their” daughter, he declined. The two parted wistfully, their emotions in

check.

The story calls to mind a Mandarin song by a

Taiwanese singer about the remote possibility of a past love being rekindled “有多少愛可以從來?”

(“What are the chances of a rekindling of past love?”)

Here’s the link

to the song:-

Some of you may know that there’s a Cantonese

version of this song rendered by Faye Wong “愛與痛的邊緣” (although the

Cantonese lyrics tell a story of unrequited love):-

Asia Sentinel