The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
I definitely wanted too like this more. What fun, what color, what joie de vivre. Also, what guy wouldn't fall in love with Catherine Deneuve.
But I had issues that go far beyond this film. I find the "sing everything that is said" approach to musicals rather than the talking plus songs approach to be a bit grating because a lot of it seems musically forced. I'd also say that like watching a film in a foreign language naturally entails losing something, this is exaggerated with music in some ways.
There are a lot of meta elements here. Going to the opera within an operetta, saying that something happens only in the movies. BTW, I'd like to use this space to recommend another French operetta, Not On The Lips, starring Audrey Tautou from 2003. I thought that was a lot of fun.
Anyway, my opener isn't really accurate. This movie is shockingly downbeat and pessimistic in a way, or perhaps it is just realistic. What starts in joy just loses all its energy over the course of the movie to the point where I was kind of hating life. I didn't really enjoy this but I still manage a hint of appreciation for seeing it.
P.S. I feel like this movie inspired Billy Joel's Uptown Girl in some way.