‘I’d Give Anything for Someone to Say’: (Dis)Honest Communication in Cyrano (2021)

TW: ableism, death (including by suicide), emotional abuse

The love stories of Cyrano (2021) are sustained by letters and poetry. Take Cyrano’s friend, the baker Ragueneau, who asks for his advice when composing his love poems, or the trio of soldiers, who write letters to their loved ones. Yet, the soldier Christian’s love letters to his beloved Roxanne are composed by Cyrano, the man who has been in love with Roxanne for the extent of their friendship. The communication between these three is ironically both deceitful and unshakingly honest. Cyrano’s letter to Roxanne, which he later gives to Christian, describes his feeling of being ‘overcome’[1] when seeing Roxanne in the morning. This sentiment later becomes central to the balcony scene, in which Cyrano, speaking as Christian, declares that, ‘every time I see you / I am overcome’[2]. Writing these letters, Cyrano is pouring out his soul. In a scene where Roxanne compares her past letters from Cyrano and her love letters from ‘Christian’, she describes Cyrano’s as ‘coded, witty, rueful’[3], suggesting that when writing as himself, Cyrano masks himself through humour and his intelligence. Whilst to the outside world he is a talented soldier and ‘witty’ wordsmith, his most honest self and emotional depth is captured in his words to Roxanne. Roxanne herself even senses this as she recognises the differences between what she understands to be ‘Christian’s’ and Cyrano’s letters. Furthermore, Roxanne duets with Cyrano, admitting that she feels ‘overcome’ when she sees Christian, drawing parallels between their experiences. Indeed, all three are led by intense emotions, yet not necessarily by pure love as they may believe.

Roxanne’s communication is anchored in unreserved emotion, motivated by a desire for an instantaneous love match. Whilst travelling in the carriage with the Duke de Guiche, Roxanne sings the first lines of the film in a dream-like state. She asks, ‘What does it feel like / To slow dance in sunlight / With someone you love?’[4]. Dessner et al. base her language in organic imagery here, with her ideal romantic moment being framed by ‘sunlight’. Such an image is stereotypical, painting a picture of storybook love. Yet, Roxanne’s air of romantic idealism is undercut throughout the film with her perceptive awareness of the society in which she lives. This is apparent in her relationship with the wealthy, titled, brutish de Guiche. Roxanne insists to Marie that she has, ‘no intention of marrying anyone’[5], but pursues de Guiche to have access to theatre. Screenwriter Erica Schmidt has discussed her version of Roxanne as having, ‘a little more agency’[6] as she fights back against the deceit, yet this relationship with de Guiche is also evident of Roxanne’s shrewdness. Whilst she rejects Marie’s encouragement to try and achieve economic security in marriage, Roxanne aligns herself, at least at first, with the Duke to gain access to a world, from which she would otherwise be excluded due to her lack of economic resources. Lacking monetary resources, Roxanne’s beauty becomes her currency, much like Hugo’s heroine Fantine, who also suffers abuse from the more powerful men around her. Roxanne’s letters become a way for her to live out her dream romance in a society which strives to prevent her from having agency over her life. Specifically in the early seventeenth century, Italian women utilised letters ‘to position themselves firmly as literary figures’[7] and therefore obtaining power in their culture. Wright set the film ‘somewhere between 1640 to 1712’[8]. Whilst this period covered both the rise and fall of the popularity of women’s epistolary literature given that, ‘Tarabotti’s Lettere of 1650…were the last major collection of familiar letters to be published by a woman in Italy’[9] until the nineteenth century, it is evident that the film’s universe allows women to obtain agency through letters. Significantly, it is Roxanne who requests that she and Christian, ‘exchange long, poetic love letters’[10], which begins their courtship. Ultimately, Roxanne’s longing for love may be, even unknowingly to herself, a means of obtaining some safety rather than for a life with Christian specifically. This romance momentarily becomes a saving grace, providing Roxanne with an alternate suitor and preventing her marriage to de Guiche. Yet, Christian is immediately forced into war after their marriage takes place by de Guiche’s hand, ultimately asserting the powerlessness women like Roxanne have in a patriarchal social system. Indeed, even the letters she so longs for are used against her in deceit.

Cyrano communicates most honestly with Roxanne through silent means. His letters, in Christian’s name, contain feelings for her which he does not verbally express in person. Early in the film, when he starts to believe that Roxanne might reciprocate his feelings, Cyrano composes a letter, which he begins by writing, ‘Every morning at the break of light / I see you standing in the sun’[11]. This recalls Roxanne’s romantic dreaming of ‘sunlight’, drawing similarities between the two and signifying that their souls and desires mirror one another. Yet, whilst Roxanne imagines a couple dancing in light, Cyrano fixates on Roxanne, deifying her almost voyeuristically and focusing on her silent form. As such, despite Peter Dinklage’s touching, delicate performance and his understanding of Roxanne’s intellect, it is evident that he is not innocent of minimising her himself. His almost worshipping of her even crosses the line into dehumanisation at points. He describes her as a ‘prize’[12] and when trying to appeal to her, he writes as Christian, ‘Will you be held? / Will you be touched? / By my hand through this paper / Is this all too much? / Will we be ravaged? / Will we be true? / To somebody perfect / Somebody like you?’[13] Given that Cyrano and Roxanne are childhood friends, his defining her as ‘perfect’ seems surface level and simplistic in defining this human being. Cyrano’s fantasising also becomes tactile, yet he still distances himself from Roxanne, asking to touch her ‘through this paper’, to reach her heart through the barrier of ‘Christian’s’ love letter. Ultimately, Cyrano’s letters to Roxanne are paradoxically the most and least honest way he communicates with her. Each one furthers the lie and pushes Roxanne towards Christian as a romantic partner, almost ensuring that Cyrano’s dream will not come to fruition. Yet, these letters are also romantic and in them, Cyrano expresses his true adoration to Roxanne, which he cannot bring himself to do in his own voice. Cyrano’s fear to speak honestly to his beloved of his love was recognised by philosopher Renata Salecl in the original Edmond Rostand play, who proposed that, ‘Cyrano is a typical example of an obsessional neurotic for whom the object of desire is too overwhelmingly and thus who actually tries to keep this object at bay’[14]. Indeed, Cyrano’s pours his intense desire for Roxanne into the letters, which only results in Roxanne becoming more besotted with ‘his’ words. As such, by transferring the voice of his letters to Christian, Cyrano remains verbally silent regarding his love and dishonest in his silence, sacrificing his voice and resolving to keep his desires a fantasy. For Christian, his part in their deceit leads to deathly consequences.

Screenwriter Schmidt has described Christian as ‘The only one with a moral conscience’[15] of the main trio. Indeed, he combats his own part in deceiving Roxanne through the film, asserting a desire for truth. For instance, Christian initially intends to ‘speak to her in my own words’[16] when Roxanne asks to meet in person. Whilst this ultimately fails to impress, and Christian only recovers once Cyrano’s words are spoken at her balcony, this moment signifies that Christian is more at odds than Cyrano is with lying to Roxanne. This inner conflict comes to a head after Christian discovers Cyrano’s true romantic longings for Roxanne. Recognising the ‘tear stain’[17] on Cyrano’s prepared final letter, which leads to Cyrano’s confession, Christian admits that he suspected the truth, signifying his emotional intelligence. This trait is suggested to be unusual of men in society, with Christian telling Cyrano that, ‘My father told me letters and books / Weren't meant for the son of a soldier’[18]. As such, Christian’s rejection of toxically masculine behaviours speaks to a drive for authenticity, despite sacrificing this in his courting of Roxanne. With Cyrano’s true feelings revealed, Christian concludes that he must tell Roxanne the truth as ‘she must have the choice’[19] between the men. Here, he not only asserts that he must only be loved for his ‘true self’, but that he wishes to be remembered for who he truly is. Indeed, it is soon after this moment that he sacrifices himself, the result of a broken heart and a belief that his ‘true self’ was not loved by Roxanne. His final line is spoken in earnest to Cyrano: ‘Tell her...everything…please…everything...Roxanne’[20]. In naming his beloved in his final words, Christian ensures that Roxanne is spiritually present in his final moment, the three joined as the cost of the deceit becomes explicit. While revealing the truth to Roxanne would likely alter her memory of Christian forever, this ultimate sacrifice signifies the importance which Christian places on honesty. Whilst initially being tempted by the ‘fairy tale and a happily ever after’[21] of a marriage to Roxanne, the revelation of Cyrano’s feelings brings into focus the detrimental impact of this deceit on all parties. Indeed, his is not the soul which Roxanne loves and Cyrano has given up her potential love by perpetuating a lie. Meanwhile, the charade is preventing Christian himself from sharing a love with someone who sees his soul. Once the truth has been spoken, Christian acts to free himself from the lie, which has become so entwined in his relationship with Roxanne, that he sees death as the only way forward. Ultimately, Christian provides a moral centre and a legacy which he imparts to Cyrano: to bringing to light truth and reject the ‘dream’[22] which Cyrano chases.

Ultimately, the true authorship of ‘Christian’s’ love letters is revealed by Cyrano to Roxanne in his final moments, which leads to her own revelation. Dismissing Cyrano’s suggestion that she loved the ‘words’[23], Roxanne insists that she, ‘always loved Cyrano’[24]. Here, it becomes clear that Roxanne, too, has been deceitful in her pursuit of Christian, even if this may have been unbeknownst to herself. Indeed, she either loved the two men simultaneously, believed that she had unrequited feelings for Cyrano, or she only admits her feelings to herself in this final moment with him. Furthermore, she may have recognised her feelings for Cyrano from the start but was convinced that he would not admit his feelings to her. Despite Roxanne’s feelings for Cyrano not being explored to any further degree in the film, only previously being illuded to by Marie, Roxanne’s silence on the matter signifies an underlying prejudice that she is unable to see a romantic future with him due to their society’s ableism. In adapting Rostand’s play for the original Off-Broadway production of the musical, Schmidt, ‘wondered what it would be like if…we just never knew what it was that he felt made him physically unattractive’[25]. As such, this Cyrano’s insecurities had a universal appeal but lacked specificity. When the musical was adapted for the 2021 film, Schmidt included a scene in which Le Bret challenges Cyrano about his refusal to admit his feelings for Roxanne. Le Bret suggests that, ‘you don’t think she has the depth to look beyond your…unique physique’[26]. As such, Cyrano’s height was given significance as the musical was adapted for the screen and crucially, the film acknowledges that it is society’s reaction to his height which causes his silence. Cyrano is skilled in the art which wins Roxanne’s heart but ultimately, he hides behind a man whom society has deemed to be more worthy of love. His internalisation of this is heartbreakingly stated by the man himself: ‘the world will never accept someone like me and a tall, beautiful woman’[27]. Referencing the Edmond Rostand’s 1897 play on which Cyrano is based, reviewer Peter Bradshaw stated that Dinklage’s casting as Cyrano is ‘finessing the original by showing that the problem is society’s attitude to Cyrano’s restricted height, rather than the traditional silly and unfunnily phallic big nose.’[28] Ultimately, the deceit of authorship in Cyrano results in an inevitably doomed love story which condemns its participants. Christian’s dies to escape a reality built on deceit, Cyrano resigns himself to a loveless, lonely life post the war and Roxanne, once a romantic dreamer, deems love ‘a painful, painful game’[29] as Cyrano dies in her arms, having admitted her love to him for the first time. Dishonest communication is deadly for the characters in Cyrano.

Sources [1] Aaron and Bryce Dessner, Matt Berninger and Carin Besser, ‘Your Name’, Cyrano Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2021). [2] Dessner, Berninger and Besser, ‘Overcome’, in Cyrano. [3] Cyrano, dir. by Joe Wright (Universal Pictures, 2021) [4] Dessner, Berninger and Besser, ‘Someone to Say’, in Cyrano. [5] Cyrano, dir. by Joe Wright (Universal Pictures, 2021) [6] Film Independent, Peter Dinklage, Haley Bennet + Joe Wright | CYRANO - Q&A | Film Independent Presents, online video recording, YouTube, 22 December 2021, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEnEJwJty9Y> [7] Meredith K. Ray, Writing Gender in Women’s Letter Collections of the Italian Renaissance (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2009), p. 214. [8] Oscars, CYRANO | Scene at the Academy, online video recording, YouTube, 1 February 2022, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqTS3EikJ5k> [9] Meredith K. Ray, Writing Gender in Women’s Letter Collections of the Italian Renaissance (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2009), p. 219. [10] Cyrano, dir. by Joe Wright (Universal Pictures, 2021) [11] Dessner, Berninger and Besser, ‘Your Name’, in Cyrano. [12] Cyrano, dir. by Joe Wright (Universal Pictures, 2021) [13] Dessner, Berninger and Besser, ‘I Need More – Radio Edit’, in Cyrano. [14] Renata Salecl, On Anxiety (London: Routledge, 2004) [15] Film Independent, Peter Dinklage, Haley Bennet + Joe Wright | CYRANO - Q&A | Film Independent Presents, online video recording, YouTube, 22 December 2021, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEnEJwJty9Y> [16] Cyrano, dir. by Joe Wright (Universal Pictures, 2021) [17] Ibid. [18] Aaron and Bryce Dessner, Matt Berninger and Carin Besser, ‘Someone to Say (Reprise)’, Cyrano Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2021). [19] Cyrano, dir. by Joe Wright (Universal Pictures, 2021) [20] Ibid. [21] Héctor Serrano, Cyrano (2021) - Q&A with Director Joe Wright, Peter Dinklage, Haley Bennett & Kelvin Harrison, Jr., online video recording, YouTube, 19 January 2022, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqibZYgjLyU> [22] Cyrano, dir. by Joe Wright (Universal Pictures, 2021) [23] Ibid. [24] Ibid. [25] Film Independent, Peter Dinklage, Haley Bennet + Joe Wright | CYRANO - Q&A | Film Independent Presents, online video recording, YouTube, 22 December 2021, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEnEJwJty9Y> [26] Cyrano, dir. by Joe Wright (Universal Pictures, 2021) [27] Ibid. [28] Peter Bradshaw, ‘Cyrano review – Peter Dinklage captivates as letter ghostwriter in musical version’, The Guardian (2022), <https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/feb/23/cyrano-review-peter-dinklage-joe-wright> [29] Dessner, Berninger and Besser, ‘No Cyrano’, in Cyrano.