The ultimate chick flick will be released February 25, 2022: it’s a musical adaptation of the classic French love story, Cyrano de Bergerac, starring Emmy-winning actor Peter Dinklage as Cyrano himself. This particular version of the classsic tale is based on Erica Schmidt’s musical play, and is one of the most romantic fantasy tales ever written.
Cyrano de Bergerac is a 1897 play by Edmond Rostand about the poet and swordsman who has a bigger nose than Jimmy Durante. He falls in love with a fair maiden, Roxane, and helps Christuan, the handsome young fool court the woman he loves, fearing she would find it impossible to love him because of his looks, despite the fact he is the very flower of French chivalry. In this version, Cyrano is cursed with another social disability rather than his nose, and why not? The point is the story, not the schnoz.
Horror star Kelvin Harrison ) (Zyrick, Of Monsters and Men), (Travis, It Comes At Night )plays the handsome but fumble-tongued Christian, who cannot woo the fair Roxane without Cyrano’s help.1
The lovely Roxane, who prefers a handsome man over poet and swordsman Cyrano de Bergerac is played by Haley Bennett (Molly, The Haunting of Molly Hartley).
Although Cyrano is not technically science fiction nor fantasy, the entire cast has strong Geek Cred. And those of us of the Geeky, Nerdish persuasion love history as much as we do the future. That’s why we go to Renaissance Faires and why the average science fiction convention features Regency dancing.
The part of Cyrano has been played by Gerard Depardieu, Jose Ferrer, Quincy Magoo,and many other actors. Are you curious to see how Peter Dinklage will compare to them? I am predicting that this will be THE date movie of 2022. Pity it’s not being released until well after Valentine’s Day.
Technically Cyrano was already released at the Telluride Film Festival in the fall of 2021 and for a week in theaters in Los Angeles, just long enough to qualify it for various awards. It has already been nominared for Golden Globe Awards for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, and Mr. Dinklage for Best Actor. Directed by Joe Wright, it will have its worldwide release on February 25, 2022.
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1Before anyone complains of a Black man playing a French army officer, remember General Thomas-Alexandre Dumas , father of novelist Alecandre Dumas the Younger.
Susan Macdonald is the author of the children's book "R is for Renaissance Faire", as well as 26 short stories, mostly fantasy in "Alternative Truths", "Swords and Sorceress #30", Swords &Sorceries Vols. 1, 2, & 5, "Cat Tails" "Under Western Stars", and "Knee-High Drummond and the Durango Kid". Her articles have appeared on SCIFI.radio's web site, in The Inquisitr, and in The Millington Star. She enjoys Renaissance Faires (see book above), science fiction conventions, Highland Games, and Native American pow-wows.
Thanks for pointing out Dumas. And in addition to Dumas, there was Toussaint Louverture who lived about the same time. Likely born a slave, he was Governor-General of Saint-Domingue (now the Republic of Haiti), which was a French colony.
I had a director years ago tell me that, if I took two years of fencing, I could play Cyrano de Bergerac. I love the role, but never did the fencing.