There were a whole barrage of live-action musicals in the mid-20th century but none of them were quite like
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. A 1964 directorial effort hailing from French filmmaker Jacques Demy,
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, much like a typical opera and in the vein of certain beloved Broadway musicals such as
Les Miserables or
Hamilton, is wall-to-wall singing, everybody communicates through song, there isn't a note of speaking to be found here. Interestingly, unlike
Les Miserables or
Hamilton though, which have characters solely singing in traditionally organized musical numbers,
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg makes no use of the usual parts of conventional cinematic musical numbers.
