On the Ending of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

I have a deep, abiding aversion to filmic romance that I’m still trying to figure out; Jacques Demy’s gorgeous, all-musical Catherine Deneuve vehicle Les Parapluies de Cherbourg is one of the only movies about love that I’ve ever watched even twice (and in this case, more!). Mike D’Angelo writes at the AV Club about its peculiar ending, which is both incredibly prosaic and magically snow-globey, a heartbreaking goodbye that’s as romantic as it is set at a gas station:

The natural impulse would have been to reflect the circumstances with a more doleful, understated rendition of the melody; Legrand instead has the orchestra perform it as if Romeo and Juliet had miraculously come back to life and were together at last. The final refrain, as Geneviève drives away with the daughter Guy has never seen and now never will, is so passionate and sweeping that it threatens to tear your heart out. Rarely has a movie’s text and its musical subtext been so utterly at odds.

Just like that, another clue that my only recipe for romance is “music” plus “emotional confusion.” Anyone else out there also love this movie a weird amount? [AVClub]