#The Christian in Solès' version I loved as well in the end‚ but probably this Italian one and the 1950 Christian are my favourite for now

[longagoitwastuesday]

Truly the José Ferrer version of Cyrano de Bergerac is the best by far because by the end of the film he has you convinced he's the most attractive man ever, even if he still doesn't believe it, and that is at the core of what the play is about

#Le Bret at first‚ Christian later on but quite soon and Roxane by the end but much earlier with Christian convinced his looks don't matter #and that his nose is not so ugly or grotesque to make him unlovable‚ not even hard to love #but he dies convinced he can't be loved because unlike the princes in fairytale he remains himself #and his ugliness doesn't disappear when being loved #Le Bret is frustrated about this even before he is on stage!!! I love the scene with the seller girl on Act I #I love that they included it in this adaptation #And I love that Le Bret scoffs when Cyrano tells him he can't confess his love due to his looks in this version #Anyway... Cyrano being a bit shitty in this version and helping Rageneau because otherwise the bakery won't be open #is very funny and also adorable to me in the gesture he makes I can't help it #As it is that he just totally forgets about Ragueneau by the end of the act. I adore that Le Bret tries to go help him #but only when he considers Cyrano is in trouble. I love how well Le Bret manages his pride #And I love that at the beginning of act II in this adaptation Cyrano is anxious about Roxane changing her mind and Ragueneau comforts him #I can't with the duality of this man I adore him. I want to hug him like a plushie. I want to put him in a blender and drink him like juice #Cyrano #Cyrano de Bergerac #I talk too much #I should probably delete this later #José Ferrer is also the best at managing the anger/fun/sad emotions in my opinion. Depardieu is too sad. Kline is too funny #Dinklage is no fun at all and the Jacques Webber version is also too sad. There's another version where the actor was no fun at all either #and definitely too old. The Solès version manages this dance of emotivity quite decently as well in my opinion #but I just prefer Ferrer most of the time. He is dignified and fun and frustrated and confident‚ #so very angry but also loving and self-conscious and a bit bashful at times #And what a voice. What a voice. Truly the best Cyrano's voice of them all. It is important in the play but until I started watching #different versions I didn't truly process just how important the voice is and Ferrer has that velvety growl that is so perfect for this #Oh Mcavoy. I forgot about him. He had potential but I think he is a tad too sad for my liking and mainly not fun enough #but I think it's a problem of the production more than the actor's delivery. He had it in him. We see glimpses #I'm missing some others but meh it doesn't matter

[longagoitwastuesday]

Do you have favorite actors for the various roles in "Cyrano de Bergerac"? I would love to hear your thoughts!

I do! I actually rambled a lot about this while I was watching the different productions I could get my hands on (I tagged it "Cyrano de Bergerac" and "I talk too much").

My favorite productions are the one with José Ferrer and the one with Benoit Solès, and those actors make the best Cyranos in my opinion. Though that's probably something in part beyond the actors' choice, their dynamic with their respective Roxane and Christian are the best ones, I think, and I find how Cyrano moves around these two particular characters at the core of a good Cyrano characterisation.

José Ferrer's use of his voice, which is arguably Cyrano's true most characteristic feature, is unmatched imo (although McAvoy does a very good job with this too), and he manauvers very well several of the different aspects of the character, such as his playfulness, his shittiness and longing. By the end of the play you believe he is the most beautiful man on Earth. Cyrano, however, is a bit pathetic (not just in a "pathos" way), and I'd say Ferrer gives off an air full of dignity very fitting of many scenes, but that eats almost entirely this aspect of Cyrano; Benoit Solès manages this very well, while also playing well with some of the other ones, such as the playfulness, the longing, the pain and the despair. Both Ferrer and Solès are hilarious, tender, a bit shitty, vulnerable, playful and sad. Albeit neither of them portrays 100% what Cyrano is, I think both come pretty close in slightly different flavours, and by the end of the play one ends up being terribly fond of them.

My favourite Roxane is Clara Huet in the production with Benoit Solès, but Mala Powers in the 1950 film is a close second. I think they portray wonderfully Roxane's spunk, and her mix of honest playful cheerfulness and her haughtiness, her intelligence and wit, and how much like Cyrano she is.

I've not come to love for now any Christian as much as I've loved Ferrer, Solès, Huet and Powers, but again I think the Christians in the 1950 film and the Solès productions are very very good. I love the dynamic they have with their Cyranos, especially the one Christian and Cyrano have in the 1950 film, enhanced positively by the added scenes (they actually work so well in showing their developing as friends, their deep love and care for each other!). I don't want to expand too much on this to avoid spoilers (beyond the already known 'Christian dies' ones I mean), but some things they do with both these Christians are a thing of genius, and both feel vulnerable, kind, ready to fight and truly desperate at times; I like when they do that.

There's an Italian production which has a Cyrano I truly enjoy as well, despite how they dumbify him more than I usually like my Christians. His mix of anger and deep pain when he discovers Cyrano's feelings for Roxane were so well made, and his physical presence makes you identify who Christian is even before the play starts.

The Podalydès production has two different Christians. The one in the version on youtube isn't bad, but @ride-a-dromedary likes Éric Ruf a lot. I actually adore him based on the clips and gifs she's posted of him, but I haven't been able to find the version with him online, so I can't know. But he truly seems one of the best. Based on what little I've seen, I love his intense gazes and subtle gestures.

I'm not entirely sold on any Le Bret, De Guiche or Ragueneau yet.

I think the German musical has a decent Ragueneau in vibes, and the 1990 French film does as well. I found his poem made song for what I think is a Spanish production (I'm not sure if it's a fan creation based on the Spanish production), and while I've not been able to find that production online, the song works well in vibes too I think.

The German musical's Le Bret in vibes is very good. He encompasses well his deep love and worry for Cyrano while also being done with his shit. They truly feel like close friends. The 1950 film kind of combines Gaston de Castel-Jaloux and Le Bret into one character, which sadly changes Le Bret's dynamic with Cyrano a bit, but that's a very good Le Bret as well. The one in Solès' production is pretty good too. He has my favourite delivery of the scene in which Le Bret chastises Cyrano for risking his life sending letters.

De Guiche is complicated. I think productions often make him too pathetic and laughable or too bad, so bad it makes the last act kind of not make sense. The 1950 one, the 1990 French one, the Kevin Kline one and the Solès one are all good, but I am not passionate for any of them either.

And basically that's it!

#I'm sorry for such a long reply‚ it wasn't my intention. In fact I tried to keep it short but oops #As an extra I'll say that the Japanese film based on Cyrano‚ Life of an Expert Swordsman‚ has a quite good main trio #The Christian character is pretty‚ noble and kind. The Roxane character is smart and well-versed in poetry and a writer in her own right #I loved when productions enhance these aspects of these characters #Kline isn't a bad Cyrano‚ but he is a bit too unbelievable to me. He is too pretty being too old. I already don't like these characters #being old because it makes it lose some sense (they're idiots in part because they are young) but he is so fit for a ~60yo which is like... #Really? The nose? A young man with the same traits is more believable to be self-conscious and think himself unlovable I'd say #I like that Kline comes off at times as a bit cruel and violent and I think it works well with how he is a lot of fun #But at times he is so much fun it ruins the mood‚ although this is a problem of the production in general and of it being based #on Burgess' translation‚ which is something I could ramble about on its own and that makes me kinda mad #I think Depardieu on the other hand falls short on being fun. He tries so hard it isn't funny and it often feels a bit pathetic to me #but not in the way Cyrano is meant to be. On the other hand‚ I felt Depardieu was too full of himself in this film and was too aware #of being he protagonist. The thing about Cyrano is that he doesn't think he is #All in all‚ the more I watch this film the less I like it and his portrayal of Cyrano. I also don't like their Christian and Roxane #(although she isn't as bad as the Klein production of Roxane‚ who is for me among the worst) #I'm not sold at all on the 2021 Roxane either‚ and this Cyrano is so much the dashing tragic hero that he isn't funny #which is one of Cyrano's main characteristics. So I don't like the 2021 Cyrano a lot either. But that's not due to the acting‚ #but because the musical does a poor work at being an adaptation of the play and its characters I'd say #The worst Cyrano out of the ones I've seen is perhaps the one in the Italian production I've mentioned that had a Christian I liked #Their Roxane was awful too but iirc Le Bret was good and Ragueneau was decent #I'm not into the Podalydès Cyrano at all. One of the Cyranos I enjoy the least I must admit. But at least he isn't that Italian one #I conclusion‚ and I always feel kinda sectarian‚ everyone should watch the Benoit Solès version #The José Ferrer film is popular enough not to mention #I talk too much #Cyrano de Bergerac