The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

Charm may be in the eye of the beholder, but if you don't find this movie irresistible, you should get your eyesight checked.

Yet the hits, when they come, are immense.

Deneuve brings to the film her own subtly erotic discontent and muted sadness.

The film boasts music by Michel Legrand and token gusts of New Wave realism, lightened and made lithe for a lighter-footed genre. (The heroine loves a car mechanic.) Add colour photography to dazzle.

What's so overpoweringly beautiful about The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg is that it matches human-scaled feelings of regret with the color and intensity of the movies Demy loved as a boy.

It continues to charm and delight for the same reasons it did back in 1964.

Overflowing with vibrant colors and angelic lyrical dialogues, Demy crafts a tale of young love that is heartwarming and devastating at the same time.

It may feature a story that's a bit melodramatic and music that can seem a little monotonous & repetitive at times, but it remains a beautifully-made, charming, and fascinating musical experience, bolstered by the performances from its wonderful ensemble.

The stunning design, vivid candy colours and Catherine Deneuve's ethereal performance only add to the fairy-tale qualities of the haunting love story between a teenage shop girl and a garage attendant.

It is all so sweet, so sentimental, so artsy, so craftsy, so pretty, so pretentious, so abysmally simple-minded.