QIs the language of the translation changed any?
AYes. In some instances certain obscure phrases have been changed so that the general audience can relate more strongly to what the character is saying. For instance, in the scene in which Cyrano is rattling off all the creative ways that one can use to insult his nose, he says in the stage version, "Or, parodying Faustus in the play: Was this the nose that launched a thousand ships". In the film, instead of saying "parodying Faustus in the play", he says, "Or, literary: Was this the nose that launched a thousand ships?" Later on, when describing Montfleury in the stage version, he says "That Silenus who cannot hold his belly in his arms". In the film this is changed to "That fat goat who cannot hold his belly in his arms".There are also additional scenes linking the five acts of the play which have been added to the film but are not included in the stage version, and these have been written in prose by screenwriter Carl Foreman.
QDoes the film show action that is only mentioned in the play?
AYes. It shows Cyrano fighting off the hundred men that have been sent to ambush Ragueneau (in the play, it is the drunk Ligniere that they are about to ambush). And it shows us how Cyrano is mortally wounded near the end. In the play, he is struck on the head by a log that is dropped from several floors above, but in this film version, he is attacked and run over from behind by someone driving a carriage.
QHow faithful to the play is this film?
AExtremely faithful, except for the changes mentioned above. In fact, one could say that it is even more faithful than the 1990 Gerard Depardieu "Cyrano". Despite featuring more of the play than the 1950 film, the 1990 version "opens it up" in a way that the 1950 version doesn't. Everything retained from the play in the 1950 version (and that means most of the film) takes place in its original setting.
Share this
