In the same year that Julie Andrews descended from the skies over London riding a parasol, the French director Jacques Demy immortalized rainy-day chic while also making a star out of the 21-year-old Catherine Deneuve. To call The Umbrellas of Cherbourg light entertainment is completely apt considering its spry, weightless tone—its slender story line about a young girl falling in and out of love soars on Michel Legrand’s sweet score—and yet that description doesn’t do justice to the seriousness of its themes about economic anxiety (the object of Deneuve’s affection is a humble mechanic) or the lurking offscreen presence of the Algerian War. Like all of the greatest musicals, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg transforms reality into Utopia, all smooth choreography and color-coordinated costumes, without letting us forget its artifice. Even as he was paying tribute to old Hollywood musicals, Demy was creating a genre template for self-reflexive directors from Bob Fosse to Spike Jonze (whose legendary promo for Bjork’s “It’s Oh So Quiet” is an all-out homage). Charm may be in the eye of the beholder, but if you don’t find this movie irresistible, you should get your eyesight checked.  – The Ringer