Two films deal with sexual identities
From Star Beacon WEEKENDER, Oct. 10, 2008
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They might make for a good double feature, which is the way the Viper watched them, but frankly, when they are over, you might find yourself tired of the topic.
In “C.R.A.Z.Y.,” Emile Vallee and later Marc-Andre Grondin play Zac Beaulieu. He and his four brothers grow up in Montreal in the 1950s to 70s.
Zac feels he is gay but tries to suppress his emotions, especially because of his emotionally distant father, played by Michel Cote.
Zac finds himself relating to David Bowie’s glam period. He’s not a fan of the Catholic Church and in one great scene, imagines himself in the sanctuary as he listens to the Rolling Stones “Sympathy for the Devil.”
He imagines the choir, the congregation, the stuffy priest all chanting “hoo hoo” as he ascends Christ-like to the roof of the sanctuary.
But the song reprised through the entire picture is Patsy Cline’s “Crazy,” which probably summarizes the characters in this picture.
The eldest brother, Raymond, played by Pierre-Luc Brillant, is a drug addict who has been to prison. But Dad fawns over him despite his destructive ways, while being repelled by next-youngest Zac. The rest of the brothers pretty much are sidelined for most of the picture.
There’s lots of smoking, there’s lots of drugs.
The second film, “Ma Vie En Rose,” opens with 6-year-old Ludovic Fabre, played by Georges Du Fresne, a perceptive youngster who at an early age decides he is a girl in a boy’s body.
He dreams an ‘X’ chromoscone that was supposed to go to him accidentally ended up in the trash.
Ludovic looks like a girl, enjoys female clothing probably more than little girls his age and plans on becoming a girl and marrying the boy next door.
The trouble with Ludovic is he’s just plain annoying. When he goes to a contemporary’s party, he insists on wearing a dress.
At Show-and-Tell, he drags out his favorite dolls he likes to play with. Hey, is this kid cruisin for a bruising or what?
In both films, the adults are horrified and think a little more testosterine-laden activities with father and other boys will set the kids straight. Ludovic gets his page-boy hairstyle sheered. Hey, that’s going to change his attitude.
We see Ludovic vying to play Snow White in the school play while being forced into a rough-and-tumble game of soccer. That’s what grows so tiring about this film, the reaction of adults. In “Ma Vie En Rose,” the father ends up losing his job and is forced to move. I’m not certain what we learn from these films, except maybe that people should speak in French and listen to music in English. If you see these movies, you might want to divide them into two viewing nights. A Marx Brothers film in between might be a good idea. Ma Vie En Rose • Runtime: 88 minutes • Language: French • Rated R for strong language • 2 1/2 stars out of 4 C.R.A.Z.Y. • Runtime: 127 minutes • Language: French, filmed in Canada • Not rated • 2 stars out of 4
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