There is no better argument for French poetry than Cyrano de Bergerac. The play — and Jean-Paul Rappeneau's 1990 film with Gérard Depardieu — proves that language, wielded with precision and passion, can do things that physical beauty cannot. Cyrano is the most eloquent man in Paris, and he believes himself too ugly to be loved. So he gives his words to someone else. The tragedy is built entirely on the gap between what language can do and what it cannot — which makes it not just a love story but a meditation on the nature of eloquence itself.
For French students, the film is essential. Edmond Rostand's French is alexandrine verse — twelve-syllable rhyming couplets — which sounds impossible to follow and turns out to be surprisingly easy, because the rhyme structure helps students track sentence boundaries even in rapid speech. Depardieu's performance makes the verse land as speech rather than recitation, and students who have never encountered verse drama find themselves understanding it before they've been told to try.
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Key Themes for the Classroom
- Language as power and limitation — Cyrano uses language brilliantly but cannot use it for himself. Ask: Pourquoi Cyrano ne peut-il pas parler en son propre nom? What is the difference between speaking for yourself and speaking for someone else?
- Beauty and worth — The film's central argument is that inner worth should matter more than outer appearance. Ask: Roxane choisit-elle le bon homme? When she learns the truth, what should she choose?
- French literary culture — Cyrano is part of the French national canon. Students who encounter it in film are encountering the same material French students study in the lycée.
Scene to use: The balcony scene — Cyrano whispering the words while Christian delivers them, and Roxane responding to the language rather than the face. The French in this scene is the most beautiful in the film, and it is also, once students understand the situation, the most devastating. Ask: Qui aime vraiment Roxane? And then: À qui parle Roxane réellement?
Low-prep classroom activity: Students write a brief love letter in French — in the voice of Cyrano, writing to Roxane as himself, saying what he couldn't say while he was alive. They must use at least two metaphors, one rhetorical question, and one admission of what he was afraid of. The task produces elevated French writing in the voice of someone who had every word except the honest one.
What to listen for: Depardieu's performance as Cyrano is, among other things, a masterclass in French declamation — the specific way French poetry is performed in theater. Students who have only read French poetry on a page hear it come alive in the balcony scene and understand something about French prosody that no classroom reading conveys. Ask students to choose one speech from the film, practice it aloud, and perform it — no translation required, just the music of the French. The performance exercise teaches pronunciation, rhythm, and the confidence to speak French in public.
The full French lesson plan for Cyrano de Bergerac is ready at filmarobics.com/products/cyrano-de-bergerac — $29.95.
Students walk away from Cyrano de Bergerac having heard French at its most beautiful — and having understood why a man who could say everything couldn't say the one thing that mattered most.
The full French lesson plan for Cyrano de Bergerac is ready at filmarobics.com/products/cyrano-de-bergerac — $29.95.
📥 Want a free lesson plan? Get a complete FilmArobics sample — pick your language. Subscribe for your free lesson →
Students walk away from Cyrano de Bergerac having heard French at its most beautiful — and having understood why a man who could say everything couldn't say the one thing that mattered most.
