Don’t
call Edmond Rostand a one-hit wonder. He also wrote Les Romanesques. It was a big hit at the time and it became the
basis of The Fantasticks Off-Broadway,
so you have to give it to him. However, at the time our story starts, Rostand
was very definitely a one-hit wonder, flirting with obscurity. Of course, his
biggest hit is ahead of him. We will see the fictionalized, Shakespeare In Love-style inspiration
for his enduring masterpiece in Alexis Michalik’s Cyrano, My Love (a.k.a. Edmond),
which opens this Friday in New York.
Sarah Bernhardt thinks the world of Rostand’s talent, even though the play he wrote for her flopped hard. His wife also still believes in his potential, but he is making it increasingly difficult for her. He hasn’t written a word in months, but when Bernhardt arranges a meeting with the great French thespian, Constant Coquelin, Rostand does his best to bluff his way through.
Fortunately, around this time, Rostand starts writing love letters on behalf of his handsome but meatheaded actor friend, Leonidas Leo Volny. In the process, he discovers the object of Volny’s affection, a costume assistant named Jeanne d’Alcie is quite a wonderfully sensitive and well-read young lady. Yes, you can see where this is going, but the way it gets there is genuinely clever.
Cyrano, My Love is a droll romantic comedy that features a good deal of backstage door-slamming farce, but it still has depth and soul. In fact, it is rather refreshing how Rostand upholds both his love and fidelity for his wife, despite finding himself attracted to d’Alcie as a muse. It is also impressive that Mickalik can maintain the real-world-inspiring-art premise throughout nearly the entire film, without it getting stale or feeling forced.
Sarah Bernhardt thinks the world of Rostand’s talent, even though the play he wrote for her flopped hard. His wife also still believes in his potential, but he is making it increasingly difficult for her. He hasn’t written a word in months, but when Bernhardt arranges a meeting with the great French thespian, Constant Coquelin, Rostand does his best to bluff his way through.
Fortunately, around this time, Rostand starts writing love letters on behalf of his handsome but meatheaded actor friend, Leonidas Leo Volny. In the process, he discovers the object of Volny’s affection, a costume assistant named Jeanne d’Alcie is quite a wonderfully sensitive and well-read young lady. Yes, you can see where this is going, but the way it gets there is genuinely clever.
Cyrano, My Love is a droll romantic comedy that features a good deal of backstage door-slamming farce, but it still has depth and soul. In fact, it is rather refreshing how Rostand upholds both his love and fidelity for his wife, despite finding himself attracted to d’Alcie as a muse. It is also impressive that Mickalik can maintain the real-world-inspiring-art premise throughout nearly the entire film, without it getting stale or feeling forced.
