Love is a battlefield and the grievously injured sport wounds to the breastplate in Joe Wright’s lushly orchestrated film version of the off-Broadway stage musical adapted by Erica Schmidt from Cyrano De Bergerac by Edmond Rostand.
Peter Dinklage movingly reprises the title role of a painfully proud soldier, who is doomed to love a childhood friend from a distance, expressed beautifully through the music of Aaron Dessner and Bryce Dessner and the lyrics of Matt Berninger and Carin Besser.
“I am a monster! I am a mutant! A freak of nature – I’ve heard all the ugly hateful nomenclature,” snarls Cyrano in When I Was Born, which chronicles the cruel reaction of nurses and his mother to his birth.
This opening refrain breaks our hearts as Cyrano despairs “I’m living proof that God has a sick sense of humour”, and succinctly establishes the deep-rooted self-loathing that compels a master swordsman and waspish wit to cower in the shadows when it comes to matters of the heart.
Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s expressive choreography elevates some of the songbook’s more forgettable numbers but the haunting lament Wherever I Fall, sung by three guards on the eve of battle, is breathtaking, building to a tear-stained crescendo that adds us to the casualty list.
Soldier and poet Cyrano de Bergerac (Dinklage) pines for Roxanne (Haley Bennett) but cannot disclose his true feelings by virtue of his lowly social status and physical demeanour.
“My fate is to love her from afar,” he tells trusted confidant Le Bret (Bashir Salahuddin).
Instead, Cyrano watches as the object of his affection entertains advances from odious nobleman De Guiche (Ben Mendelsohn), who offers security in a world where fortune favours the wealthy.
The soldier barely contains his jealousy when Roxanne gives her heart to a dashing young recruit, Christian de Neuvillette (Kelvin Harrison Jr), under his command.
“Would you love him if he wasn’t handsome?” asks Cyrano.
“I can’t imagine it,” dreamily replies Roxanne.
Crushed by those words, Cyrano strikes a bargain with Christian to secretly write lyrical love letters so the young suitor may woo Roxanne.
“I’ll make you eloquent while you make me handsome,” Cyrano explains to Christian, who is blissfully unaware of his companion’s unspoken true feelings.
The billets-doux cast a spell and Roxanne and Christian gravitate towards each other.
Galvanised by Dinklage’s compelling performance, Cyrano swoons handsomely to the theme of unrequited love.
Directorial flourishes distance the material from its stage origins, although Mendelsohn’s villainous aristocrat is pure pantomime.
Bennett and Harrison Jr add emotional depth to the central love triangle, particularly in an anguished final act when the repercussions of the letter-writing inspire the desperate reprise “Have you ever wanted something so badly you cannot breathe?”
Wright’s picture takes our breath away only intermittently.
(12A, 123 mins) Musical/Romance/War/Drama. Peter Dinklage, Haley Bennett, Kelvin Harrison Jr, Ben Mendelsohn, Monica Dolan, Bashir Salahuddin. Director: Joe Wright.
Irish release: February 25th
Our rating: 7/10
