C.R.A.Z.Y.
SUNDAY 1ST APRIL10.00 am
TUESDAY 3RD APRIL 8.30 pm
RUNNING TIME 127 MINUTES
RATED PG
Zac Beaulieu(Grondin) always knows there’s something different
about him. Born dead on Christmas Day, 1960, his survival is
suitably miraculous, and his loving mother Laurianne (Proulx)
is convinced that Zac has a gift. But all Zac really wants is
to be close to his father, kindly but old-fashioned Gervais (Cote).
Gervais is a typical working man, toughly affectionate to his
five sons, but keen for them to espouse his values, and Zac idolises
him.
Zac enjoys his moment in the sun as his father’s favourite –
relishing the drives home from school where they enjoy secret
trips to the chip shop. But he also likes to help his mother
and push his baby brother, Ivan, in his pram. Somehow, even at
six, he knows his father will not approve. As Zac grows up, he
struggles to suppress his own desires in order to be the man
his father wants him to be. The irony is that, as an adolescent
in the seventies, Zac fits in perfectly – Ziggy Stardust, the
Rolling Stones – all androgyny, cheekbones, and long hair. But
suburban Quebec isn’t quite ready for Zac and the family struggle
to deal with the rumours that surround him.
C.R.A.Z.Y. (the initials of the five boys, Christian, Raymond,
Antoine, Zachary, Yvan – and also the title of the Patsy Cline
song that underscores the film) could be seen as a kind of companion
piece to Brokeback Mountain. Just like Ennis and Jack, Zac tries
to deny his sexuality to fit into the stereotypically masculine
mould that his father represents (and his older brothers are
facets of – the brain, the sport, the biker; he even moves in
with a (Thompson) for a while, but finally has the courage to
break free and win acceptance on his own terms. Zac is luckier
than Ennis and Jack though – he lives in a city, and has a kind
and loving mother, and crucially was born ten years later, into
a rapidly changing and more tolerant world - in short, he has
options.
Zac is marked out as different from the moment of his birth,
when he almost dies, and then when his father drops him. He bears
a birthmark, a shock of blond hair; he’s a sensitive, nervy,
dreamy, asthmatic bedwetter with some sort of psychic connection
to his mother. It’s not surprising that he just wants to be the
same as everyone else – and who more than his super cool dad
with his aviator shades and Jean-Paul Belmondo looks. Its also
therefore even less surprising that he ends up a confused mess.
Marc-Andre Grodin is brilliant as Zac, alternating a cool adolescent
cockiness with baffled hurt as he struggles to connect with the
father who abandoned him. It helps that he looks like a cross
between Rufus Wainwright and a young Keanu Reeves, and suits
the seventies androgyny and eighties punk fashions down to the
ground. Whoever designed the sets did a fabulous job and must
have had loads of fun recreating a seventies suburban ambience
– every detail feels right. As do the regular family gatherings
at Christmas where Zac always gets the biggest present – and
usually the biggest disappointment (wanting a pram, getting a
train set) – the endless squabbling feels completely authentic,
culminating in a fist fight at Christian’s wedding.
The film runs slightly too long, and Zac’s Palestinian sojourn
seems a little far-fetched, though Grodin looks great with a
tan. But it’s a warm and delightful film, punctuated with sharp
wit (one barbed exchange between Gervais and Laurianne had the
audience in stitches), and full of possibility. It also introduces
the concept of ironed toast, a new culinary delight. Try it:
HERE
Source: www.futuremovies.co.uk
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