"Roxanne" and "Cyrano de Bergerac"

Paper Summary:

Fred Schepisi has successfully turned a tragedy into a comedy with his modern retelling of the 19th century classic "Cyrano de Bergerac". His film "Roxanne" recounts the same story of an intelligent, witty, poetic soul whose ridiculously large nose makes him fearful of rejection from the woman he loves. This looks at the ways in which the film "Roxanne" has departed from P Rostand's "Cyrano de Bergerac" in order to bring this story to a contemporary audience.

From the Paper:

"The Roxanne of the film has been revamped for the 20th century. She is a thoroughly modern woman with modern morals. She too is beautiful and intelligent, but lacks the naivety of the Roxane in the play and is far more down to earth. The fact that she is an astronomer can be no coincidence, and the talk of celestial bodies and outer space must hark back to Cyrano's fascination with the moon. The close ups of her face, her reactions and emotions allow us to see Roxanne on a much more personal level than would be possible in a theatrical setting.
In the play Roxane is portrayed as courageous and romantic when she crosses enemy lines to see Christian, as she is so moved by his letters. A modern woman, although moved by romantic gestures could not realistically carry on a relationship through letters."

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