Les Parapluies de Cherbourg [The Umbrellas of Cherbourg] (1964)
![Image](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2cATwkbY6ZdMHdz8X4XeAypyCpT4EAGl1S8MG6_sHz7ghDtyPlrxi_zTvCP1p3rA-5Mc7gRY9iWXjivWfe9Dk5ZDN0eHaNaRrmC_UK_v7J5s7hJ4cOVKP0A08u45zFo8WsQy7JRkqNcZ_T6K4JNPbOKSECRumopGt_aM0gh6yXi6AFcSH9sCbk53WXudd/s320/Les%20Parapluies%20de%20Cherbourg%20%5BThe%20Umbrellas%20of%20Cherbourg%5D%20(1964).jpg)
There aren't a lot of definitions of "Christmas movies" that would include this, and I'm not about to claim otherwise. Despite that, I wanted to share a few thoughts for a couple reasons. First, this is an incredibly important and influential movie, which naturally makes me inclined to loosen my criteria. It's also a foreign film (French, if it wasn't clear from the title), which means it's providing us with at least a little insight into how another culture views the holiday season. Most importantly, while it only contains two relatively brief holiday sequences, one of those uses Christmas in a fairly unusual way, which - unless I miss my guess - reflects back on American Christmas movies. More on that later. The film is a colorful musical drama about a couple torn apart by a combination of forces beyond their control and their own decisions. It's notable for its operatic approach - although the music is fairly modern (or modern for 1964 musicals), ev