C.R.A.Z.Y. (2005) - LightShed 10

Excellent movie.  You should believe the hype behind C.R.A.Z.Y.  Watch the trailer here. 

I saw this flick at the Seattle International Film Festival and the lines were huge, more so than for other movies in the festival.

In this French-Canadian dramedy, Quebecois Marc-Andre Grondin is a teenager going through self-discovery.  That was for me the most important aspect in the movie, but there were quite a few other family issues addressed (father-son relationship, father-wife relationship, growing up in the 60s, etc.).  You are guaranteed to laugh out loud, and cry. 

I have to admit I had some problem giving C.R.A.Z.Y. the much coveted (as if...) LightShed 10 score, but I think the light was overwhelmingly positive after all.  The gay coming of age we see in the movie shows the pain and complexity you would see in real life.  I could relate to several parts of the movie and I believe you will too.

Our gay Marc-Andre does not want to be gay.  "I'd rather die than be gay."  Our main character tells his shrink, in an appointment arranged by his father, who wants his son to be straight.  To "cure" him.  All very painful to watch.

In Brokeback we are told by Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger's character) that boys learn to hate gays at an early age and that you should hate yourself if you are gay (that is the case 'till this day in many many parts of the world).  In C.R.A.Z.Y., we actually see the self-hate process at play.  How it all starts.  You see the first time a boy is called a faggot, how harsh that is, and what that does to him.

It took director Jean-Marc Valle (pic on the right) 10 years to come up with C.R.A.Z.Y., and I can't wait for his next flicks.  Look what he said about the movie:

“I wanted to show my sons [Émile and Alex] that everyone has something to offer. I wanted to show them that acceptance of people who are different is the way to go.”

Awesome.  We need more straighties like that!

The soundtrack is excellent, great Pink Floyd and David Bowie songs (like Major Tom, etc.).  The movie also had lots of Charles Aznavour and Patsy Cline songs -- I don't really like those, but they made lots of sense in the movie.

I will discuss one more incident in the movie, but the discussion will reveal a bit too much.  Read on or go get this movie as soon as you can.  As of now, the movie is not available on Netflix, but you can get it on Amazon.

[SORT OF SPOILER AHEAD]

[SORT OF SPOILER AHEAD]

The reason I almost did not give this movie a LightShed 10 was because there is a hate crime scene and guess who is the perpetrator?  Our main character, our very own little gay.  The guy who is attacked by Marc-Andre was interested in him, sexually.  The guy stared at Marc-Andre a few times, and Marc-Andre rejected that with violence, against the guy, but also against himself, as if punching himself for being gay.

Like I said though, C.R.A.Z.Y. goes through many of the complex self-hate stages many gays go through.  But all turns out well and our gay even develops a short relationship with the guy he had attacked.

We are lead to believe that Marc-Andre's problematic approach with his own sexuality was heavily influenced by his father, played well by Michel Cote, and his older brother, played by Pierre-Luc Brillant (pic right).  They both helped instill homophobia and self-hate in our gay.

Comments

[RIC]

Great, touching presentation text! Thank you!
Quebecois cinema has recently surprised me in two films with accurate aproaches to gay lifestyle inside a group of straight and gay friends. I was overwhelmed by the naturalness of those relationships.
Mes félicitations au cinéma québecois!

[Augusto]

Thanx. What were the movies, Ric?

[RIC]

Sorry, Augusto, it took me somehow longer to search for the information. They're both directed by Denys Arcand; the older one (1986/7) is «Le Déclin de l'empire américain», and the latter (2003), «Les invasions barbares». As we don't get here Quebecois movies, I saw them on our cultural TV channel (2:) a few weeks ago and so I may be talking about rather old news... The truth is though both films impressed me quite a lot. Loved the performances as well. :-)

[Bent Yellow Boy]

An utter masterpiece of a film. I wrote a review here:

http://ramblingcorner.blogspot.com/2006/07/crazy.html

What impressed me about the film was that it has a much larger scope than just a typical coming-out story: the dynamics of family is explored in the film, particularly between brothers, between fathers and sons, and between mothers and sons. Just look at how inheritance is analyzed: Zach (the main character) picks up his father's love of rock music, and is essentially a younger version of his father except that he's gay. That's why there's so much self-hate: the love between father and son is palpable.

The film also has intriguing religious allusions: Zach is, at times, a Christ figure. And, like much great gay art/literature, his gayness is seen as both a gift and a curse ("the dark gift"), and is paralleled with things like his asthma.

The film is thought-provoking, passionate and demonstrates a surprising filmmaking confidence. The Quebecois truly are leading Canadian cinema. This is one of the best films of 2005.

[Queer Beacon]

I agree, Bent. C.R.A.Z.Y. was one of the best films of 2005.

[Alfred]

I love this movie too! It's just released here in Aus. Not just "another gay movie"! And it's long so I love the story to be so thorough and also it moves from lines to lines very smoothly. It's mostly always the father isn't it? The mother always knows. =) Luckily so far my parents have gone over the do-u-think-u-can-b-straight phase.

Damn - gotta wait months 4 the DVD to come out.

[Queer Beacon]

Hey Alfred. I can't understand why the distribution of C.R.A.Z.Y. was not more effective and international. The movie shook the grounds of every festival in which it was on, and I never heard anyone saying anything other than that they absolutely loved the movie...it's one of those things ;-)

[Marc]

The movie is now on Netflix in the U.S.

I love love love this movie.

The only downside is that Zac's relationship to his brothers is undepicted. It's strange that the film is named after him and his brothers, yet they are just stereotypes (the jock, the brains, the bad boy, the introvert). We never learn why all the brothers are isolated from one another.

I like how the mother was quietly assertive -- even challenging -- to the iron-fisted father.

I couldn't help wonder if the father was alcoholic or something.

The nascent eroticism of youth was palpable. It made me wish I could be a kid again -- knowing what I know now.

[Marc]

This film also depicts queerness and difference in general as a gift. I really like that idea, and can relate.

The spirituality of Catholicism and gayness are treated very well -- not too reverent and not too heavy handed either. The use of magic realism and fantasy to depict Catholicism was apt.

The QB review calls Zac a Christ figure, but he's also an anti(Christ)hero. Afterall, he does ascend out of church during "Sympathy for the Devil." I like that both things can be true. That's what's good about this film in general. Life is gray -- not black and white.

[Queer Beacon]

Hey Marc, thanks for the insightful comments!

I loved the mom character too. I loved how she stood up against one of the often mentioned objections to gay men: that our sex is filthy. The objection was raised by the nasty dad, and then she reminds him how he likes it too, often...

[marcus]

That's an excellent movie!
Loved the characters: the mom, the brothers...