la cage aux folles ( film )
la cage aux folles runs at the alhambra until saturday. to buy tickets visit urltoken
with the headline: film: ‘cage aux folles, ’ farce in a french club .
looking for movie tickets? enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing la cage aux folles near you .
la cage aux folles is produced by james l. nederlander, clear channel entertainment, kenneth greenblatt, terry allen kramer and martin richards .
with the headline: ugo tognazzi, 68, a comic actor who starred in' cage aux folles' .
foreign remake: an american remake of the french / italian film adaptation of la cage aux folles or at the very least, the original french stage play of the same name .
edouard molinaro, who directed classic french farce la cage aux folles and other much - loved films, has died in paris at the age of 85 .
the 12 - week total has beaten previous record holder la cage aux folles, which raked in $ 20. 4m (£14. 2m) in 1979 .
mike nichols wrangles agreeably amusing performances from robin williams and nathan lane in this fun, if not quite essential, remake of the french comedy la cage aux folles .
the american remake of' la cage aux folles' set the film in the mid -' 90s amid a culture war fueled by morality politics. | # gay | pinterest | culture war, mora…
la cage aux folles theatre royal brighton, august 15 to 26, 7. 45pm (2. 30pm matinee on wednesday, thursday and saturday), call 08448 717650
open up your closet, fish out your feather boa, and come along to see la cage aux folles. it’s going to be bad and beautiful, bawdy and bizarre…
ugo tognazzi, a onetime bookkeeper who became one of italy' s leading comic actors and achieved international fame in the film
la cage aux folles ,
died on saturday. he was 68 years old .
la cage aux folles tells the story of two gay men living in st tropez and was nominated for three academy awards in 1980, for best director, adapted screenplay and costume design .
“la cage aux folles capitalizes on the kind of hysterical exhibitionism that serious minded homosexuals repudiate. the film is funny enough, if you' re not in the line of fire, but i' m not prepared to say that the film is entirely harmless. ”
la cage aux folles began its five day run at the theatre yesterday, with an opening night that brought the audience to its feet and had them clapping along and howling with laughter throughout .
producer martin richards — who scored big in 2002 with the screen version of chicago — is planning to do the same with the current broadway musical la cage aux folles, according to variety .
he was best known in the united states for his role as a homosexual cabaret owner in the 1979 film
la cage aux folles ,
directed by edouardo molinaro. he also appeared in 1980 and 1985 sequels to the movie .
edouard molinaro’s 1978 la cage aux folles is not only an entertaining farce but also a landmark, for the way it opened many viewers’ eyes to both drag culture and same - sex relationships. to find out more about the film’s sexual politics and…
starting this friday, the skylight music theatre is presenting the tony award winning broadway musical
la cage aux folles
! you may be familiar with the story because it inspired the 1996 film
the birdcage
. while the whole production is fantastic ,
photo archive: remembering the costume designs of theoni v. aldredge, from annie to dreamgirls to la cage
la cage aux folles is one of the most influential – and beloved – musicals in theatre history. the show has just embarked on its first ever uk tour, and that’s something that fans have long been waiting for .
third and final version of the la cage aux folles series has renato' s drag queen lover albin learning that he can inherit a vast fortune from a distant relative. but the catch is that albin... see full summary »
eduoard molinaro’s hilarious la cage aux folles, based on jean poiret’s play, is one of the most successful foreign films ever released in the u. s. the unprecedented popularity of this gender - bending sex farce inspired two sequels, a hit broadway…
“la cage aux folles, ” the french farce that opens today at the 68th street playhouse, is the name of a nightclub in st. tropez, in the south of france. according to the film, the club is both hugely popular and wildly notorious, though to the rest of us it seems the sort of place that could give st. tropez horrid reputation for being square. the cage aux folles puts on drag shows that feature thickly set, middle‐aged men who, dressed like the chorus of the princeton triangle, sing and dance ,
la cage aux folles begins with a metaphor: a shot of the audience — middle class, heterosexual, and above all, liberal. they frequent the saint - tropez nightclub, where the film is set, to watch the transvestite shows staged by homosexual performers. the audience on camera represents by interior duplication the general public for sophisticated french comedies about homosexuality, and more specifically if less deliberately, the usual u. s. public for subtitled foreign films. in both cases, there seems to be a discrepancy of ideals and values between the performer and the spectator: between the homosexual transvestite and the heterosexual couple, between the film la cage aux folles and the public who appreciates it .
originally a french play by jean poiret (who also starred), la cage aux folles premiered in 1973, and would result in a french - italian film and two sequels. over 20 years later, it would also inspire the robin williams comedy the birdcage, which transplanted the action to miami beach and cast gene hackman as a republican senator .
on the dvd: la cage aux folles is unfortunately presented in a not terribly good 1: 66: 1 transfer: much of the crackle and faded colours of the original remain, while the soundtrack is fuzzy in places. the only extra is the original trailer. - - david stubbs
one understands how and why things were changed for the musical. start with that word ,
musical .
this means songs, and given that la cage aux folles is centered around the nightclub
la cage aux folles ,
the chorus of the club becomes the chorus of the musical. in the film, there is one dance number in the club, during the opening. in the musical, the so - called cagelles become featured players with songs and dialogue as well. once you base the musical numbers in the club — and one presumes cabaret was very much a model — albin inevitably becomes the musical comedy star of the proceedings .
this month' s column looks at
la cage aux folles ,
the french - language film which launched that title on the international level and prepared the world for the broadway musical that soon followed, and richard burton (with claire bloom) in martin ritt' s 1965 cold war thriller
the spy who came in from the cold .
*
the film has won a whole host of audience awards at film festivals around the world, including edinburgh, toronto and chicago .
third and final version of the la cage aux folles series has renato' s drag queen lover albin learning that he can inherit a vast fortune from a distant relative. but the catch is that albin must marry (a woman) and produce an heir within a year or the whole inheritance will be forfeited .
rather, the identification established with renato and albin allows a ready defense to offer to those who question a willingness to laugh at gays. it gives the straight, liberal spectators at whom the film is aimed both the confidence that they are laughing with and not at the homosexuals of la cage aux folles. they can have the conviction that the film makes fun of everyone, not just of gays. indeed, the audience buys its right to laugh at gays by agreeing to laugh first at the bourgeoisie, that is, at itself. because the spectators mock those who are their own representatives within the film, the charrier family, they escape personal implication. at the same time, la cage aux folles presents viewers with a comforting stereotypical portrayal of homosexuals that reinforces many people’s deepest convictions. the film permits them to continue to believe that gays are what they really thought they were all the time .
as a special offer for morning blend fans, skylight music theatre is offering a discount of 10% off on each adult ticket * to la cage aux folles. just use the code
blend
when you call the box office at (414) 291 - 7800 or when you order online at skylightmusictheatre. org .
the jerry herman - harvey fierstein musical la cage aux folles opened at broadway' s palace theatre august 21, 1983. george hearn and gene barry starred in the adaptation of the classic french play and film about a middle - aged gay couple who are forced to hide their sexual orientation in order to meet the fiancée (and her family) of one of the men' s sons .
in the mid - ’90s, with the aids epidemic hitting its plateau, lgbt equality measures becoming part of a national conversation, and the christian coalition dominating the call for family values and morality politics, the subject matter of la cage aux folles was as timely as ever — making it the perfect source material for an english - language hollywood remake .
shaking a layer of dust off its well - worn marabou ,
la cage aux folles
returns to the screen as
the birdcage ,
an american remake with plenty of new pizazz. this material still shows its age (as it did even in the 1979 french - language version), but it has been tarted up with giddy ingenuity .
to avoid'' misconceptions,'' the 68 - year - old mr. siders, who is the co - producer of the touring versions of the musicals'' la cage aux folles'' and'' singin' in the rain,'' said he would rather not label'' the lord of the rings'' a puppet show .
produced and directed by mike nichols; written by elaine may, based on the stage play
la cage aux folles
by jean poiret, and the screenplay by francis veber, edouard molinaro, marcello danon and mr. poiret; director of photography, emmanuel lubezki; edited by arthur schmidt; music by jonathan tunick; production designer, bo welch; released by united artists. running time: 117 minutes. this film is rated r .
describing a comedy is always a risky business; the bare plot outline is, of course, no hint as to how funny a film is, and to steal the jokes is a misdemeanor. what i can say, though, is that
la cage aux folles
gets the audience on its side with immediate ease; it never betrays our confidence; it astonishes us with the inspiration and logic it brings to ringing changes on the basic situation .
such remarks as i make here normally call forth the protestation that the critic is
missing the point ,
focusing on clearly secondary aspects of the film, or not dealing with the film as a whole on the terms that it sets out for itself as an artistic work. moreover, some readers will surely suspect that i lack a sense of humor. but, of course, precisely those elements of la cage aux folles that are
beside the point ,
secondary
— and therefore never confronted openly — constitute its ideology and so permit the constant reinforcement of attitudes unacceptable if voiced aloud. we can laugh at la cage aux folles and even at its sequel. indeed, it is hard not to. but laughter need never blind us to the discrete social and political messages contained in the most entertaining of films, for these messages function best when we show our willingness to ignore them .
it’s like a farce. the show is very fast and very funny with a wonderful script by harvey fierstein. how can it fail with all of that? the only thing i think that stands against it is the title. people go, ‘what’s la cage aux folles? ’ and struggle to pronounce it. if it was called the birdcage: the musical we’d be better off because there’d be more recognition with the film with robin williams [ the 1996 movie ] .
a classic french film with execrable video quality and no way to request a refund .
la cage (1978), about a gay couple' s hilariously ill - starred attempt to pass themselves off as straight, was remade in the us as the birdcage (1996) .
starting this friday, the skylight music theatre is presenting the tony award winning broadway musical
la cage aux folles
! you may be familiar with the story because it inspired the 1996 film
the birdcage
. while the whole production is fantastic, keep a special eye out for the costumes. the designer for this show is
project runway
all - star chris march! chris joins us, along with director and choreographer john de los santos, to discuss the production .
la cage aux folles delivers an absolutely clear message: renato' s instincts are heterosexual. each time he encounters simone, he desires her, attracts her easily and strongly, and immediately acts on his passion. if renato lives with albin as a homosexual, we must therefore believe that it is only because he has not had ready access to the
right
woman. this determination to undermine renato' s chosen erotic identity may well explain the total absence of (homo) sexuality that gay critics have consistently noted in la cage aux folles and its sequel (see, for example, jack babuscio, gay news 212). renato' s son laurent, representative of the next generation, chooses heterosexuality openly. renato and albin specifically sacrifice their homosexual life style to laurent' s happiness so that the film may end with a wedding, the celebration par excellence of the institution of heterosexuality .
la cage aux folles
are
birds of a feather ,
which are precisely and hilariously what do not flock together in this wonderful comedy from france. it' s about the gay owner of a scandalous nightclub in st. tropez, his transvestite lover, and how the owner reacts after his son returns home one day and announces he' s going to marry... a girl !
apparently straight critics are no better positioned to raise questions in the name of gays. not surprisingly, the village voice (tom allen, 14 may, 1979, p. 50) pans la cage aux folles as an unfit vehicle for a gay statement, but only in passing. the nation' s robert hatch (1may, l979, p. 581) continues to defend the film as “wholesome
even as he recognizes that those directly implicated may not be in a position to concur :
another strong point of the production is how it involves the audience - when the plot shifts to the cabaret scenes the fourth wall is broken and the audience is pulled into the story, as guests of le cage aux folles. the is especially true for a scene where partridge ad libs with the crowd for an entire scene .
there’s a telling moment of incidental cruelty early in la cage aux folles, the iconic 1983 musical adaptation of the 1973 play, which plays like a light joke. it features hannah, a widely feared, whip - cracking, cross - dressing dominatrix who is instantly subdued by her manager’s threat to make her perform at the st tropez cabaret as a man. (hannah whimpers away, tail and crop, between her legs. )
don' t bother renting this great film from this source. the video quality is unwatchable .
icon of musical theatre marti webb appears in la cage aux folles, a multi award - winning show based on a french nightclub of the same name. georges runs the club with his partner, drag artist albin, and the pair live an idyllic existence – until everything changes. before its first ever uk tour comes to brighton, edwin gilson spoke to webb about the musical, working with andrew lloyd webber and how theatre helped her through cancer surgery .
aside from furnishing a new negative image of women, the characteristics of the prostitute link racism and sexism, common in western society. albin himself performs marlene dietrich in blackface in la cage aux folles ii. the other homosexual transvestite who appears with exaggerated and stereotypical female mannerisms in both films is jacob, the black maid who, significantly, dresses
like a whore ,
and whose job adds the negative criterion of class to those of race and sex .
these shows all began as movies that eventually became broadway musicals that were adapted once again for film .
the birdcage is a little film with knee - slapping scenes coupled with thoughtfully acute moments as well .
mr. tognazzi also appeared in roger vadim' s film
barbarella ,
with jane fonda .
but the film version of la cage aux folles is not really about homosexuality at all. the standard sex roles played by the “husband
renato and the
wife” albin permit this apparent nonconformist couple to be subsumed in the heterosexual norm, which the film generally advocates. moreover, the plot makes women the authentic, if covert, subject of attack. on the one hand, the laughter of straight spectators at the conservative charrier family produces a self - chastisement that frees them to retain their prejudices against gays. on the other, the underlying mockery of women achieves an even more important catharsis that permits all laughter at males, homosexual or heterosexual, ultimately to pass as harmless .
a poll for bbc one' s film 2001 picked nicole kidman' s moulin rouge as the favourite .
a series featuring a male couple with a masculine / feminine dynamic similar to the one in the film .
in truth, la cage aux folles, adapted by jerry herman and harvey fierstein, offered mainstream audiences a hugely reassuring image of alternative family structures. in ways, it was ahead of it time (george and albin are contentedly married, long before it was legally possible in france, the us or, indeed, ireland) and yet cautiously of its time: for all the suggestiveness, it allows for little physical affection between the eruptive prima donna albin (john partridge) and the permanently exasperated georges .
the movie is based on a play by jean poiret that has, i' m told, been very successful in france, but exactly when it was successful is difficult to guess. the nearest broadway equivalent to the foolish, mechanical sentiment of this farce might be something on the order of “never too late, ” which goes back almost 20 years. “la cage aux folles” is naughty in the way of comedies that pretend to be sophisticated but actually serve to reinforce the most popular conventions and most witless stereotypes .
this version of the farce stars former eastenders star john partridge as albin, the flamboyant drag queen and star of french drag cabaret club le cage aux folles. his relationship with club owner georges, played by tj hooker star adrian zmed, is put to the test when their son jean michelle announces that he is soon to marry the daughter of a hard line conservative politician with an aversion to homosexuals .
when released in 1978, it ranked as the highest - grossing foreign - language film ever in the united states .
the film, which is tipped for oscar nominations, has taken $ 20. 9m (£14. 6m) .
why bring back “ la cage aux folles ” — a major hit musical of the 1983 - 84 broadway season, but certainly not a classic like “gypsy” or “fiddler on the roof” — only five years after its first broadway revival? especially when that 2004 - 05 stint proved a tired and unnecessary affair, suggesting that the original production (with its six tony awards) was stronger than the material. the producers of this new edition, which premiered at london’s menier chocolate factory in 2007, have a convincing answer: it’s funny, heartwarming and terrific .
ruth williamson, michael mulheren, linda balgord, john shuman and michael benjamin washington are among featured players in the new broadway production of la cage aux folles. the company also includes adrian bailey, bryan batt, paul canaan, joey dudding, merwin foard, christopher freeman, patty goble, dale hensley, john hillner, leah horowitz, clark johnsen, paul mcgill, brad musgrove, eric otte, nathan peck, andy pellick, t. oliver reid, jermaine rembert, dorothy stanley, charlie sutton, will taylor, josh walden and emma zaks .
in this remake of the classic french farce
la cage aux folles ,
engaged couple val goldman (dan futterman) and barbara keeley (calista flockhart) shakily introduce their future in - laws. val' s father, armand (robin williams), a gay miami drag club owner, pretends to be straight and attempts to hide his relationship with albert (nathan lane), his life partner and the club' s flamboyant star attraction, so as to please barbara' s father, controversial republican sen. kevin keeley (gene hackman). read more
following the success of la cage aux folles, molinaro helmed
the french method
segment of the sex comedy anthology les séducteurs (sunday lovers, 1980) which also featured segments directed by bryan forbes, gene wilder and dino risi. in the mid - 1980s he directed just the way you are, a gentle english language comedy set in a french ski resort, and paired emmanuelle béart and daniel auteuil in another sex comedy, l' amour en douce, just before their international breakthrough in the claude berri remake of marcel pagnol' s manon des sources .
it was voted second best film of the year by viewers of the uk' s most popular movie review tv show .
edouard molinaro' s film version was the most successful french - language film the united states had ever seen, a widespread commercial hit which earned three oscar nominations. (how many foreign - language films, i wonder, have been nominated for the best screenplay award? in this case ,
la cage
lost to
kramer vs. kramer ,
which had the advantage of being in english .) thus, the title, and the plot, were readily familiar to american audiences when the musical came along .
the tomatometer score — based on the opinions of hundreds of film and television critics — is a trusted measurement of critical recommendation for millions of fans. it represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show .
that molinaro interview is the disc’s meatiest feature, though there’s also an excellent interview with laurence senelick that contextualizes the film within the history of drag and the representation of gay characters. archival footage of poiret and serrault performing skits on french tv provides a glimpse into their partnership, and what french audiences wanted in the early days of television. more revealing is a 10 - minute excerpt of a la cage stage performance starring its originators. as molinaro describes it, it looks both broader than the film it inspired—which is saying something—and also a little less humane .
edouard molinaro, film and television director and screenwriter: born bordeaux 13 may 1928; twice married; died paris 7 december 2013 .
the heart of the piece: that’s what we get in this “la cage, ” and that’s what makes johnson’s production so tenderly affecting. the original — acknowledging the socio - political temper of the times — seemed to go to great lengths to present its leading men as not actually a (sexual) couple. the first revival, for offstage reasons, seemed to feature leading men who actively hated each other. here, finally, we have a realistic and believable pair who have been devotedly living with each other for a quarter century. and that makes “la cage” more emotionally effective than before .
la cage aux fouies directed by edouard molinaro; screenplay (french with english subtitles) and adaptation by francis veber, mr. molinaro, marcello danon and jean poiret, based on the play by mr. poiret; edited by robert and monique isnardon; director of photography, armando mannuul; music by ennlo morricone; produced by marcello denon; released by united artists. at the 68th street playhouse, at third avenue. running time: 91 minutes. thisfilm israted r .
inexact title. see the list below. we don' t have an article named film / lacageauxfolles, exactly. we do have :
it was also nominated for a golden globe for best foreign film, although it lost out to bosnian movie no man' s land .
serrault, who created the role of albin on stage, is less prominent than georges in the film — but then, he doesn' t have the song about putting on his mascara and that stirring first act anthem of self - worth. tognazzi, for me, is the one who makes
la cage
so droll. major assists come from serrault, claire maurier as simone, benny luke as jacob and michel galabru as the detestable father of the bride .
the moving, stunning score of la cage includes song on the sand, the best of times, and of course the gay anthem i am what i am. as well as being a favourite of theatre audiences, that has since been covered by the stars like shirley bassey, tony bennett and – as a disco version – gloria gaynor .
the ballad of narayama
is a japanese film of great beauty and elegant artifice, telling a story of startling cruelty. what a space it opens…
amelie, which is directed by jean - pierre jeunet, who made alien resurrection and delicatessen, and was france' s top grossing film last year .
the reveal: the film' s first scene plays up the handsome young man as armand' s secret lover when he' s actually his son .
among the special features on this new digital restoration is archival footage of the serrault and poiret act long before
la cage
and an interesting interview with director molinaro. in the latter, he mentions he was so certain that the film was a surefire disaster that he ordered his friends not to see it. he also discusses how difficult a time he had with tognazzi, who apparently hated the material and refused to speak his lines in french. this did not prevent the pair from reuniting for the 1980 sequel, though .
in poiret' s play, everyone, including georges (renato) and laurent, puts on female clothes, but molinaro keeps his ideological message pure: only those who are ridiculed and ridiculous are women or, one is tempted to deduce, only women are ridiculous. thus, la cage aux folles ii contains a parallel episode. the sequel announces a potentially promising switch when the secret agents protecting albin are forced into disguise. but although the agents dress as gays and attempt to imitate the effeminate behavior that molinaro apparently equates with all homosexuality, they do not dress as women. moreover, the single scene in which they attempt their masquerade – poorly — ends in a fistfight. a scene that seems about to challenge traditional assumptions once again ends in a reinforcement of convention .
in a time when homosexuality had yet to become the basis of a big broadway musical, la cage proved to be a huge success, winning the tony award for best musical, and racking up 1, 761 performances. over the course of the run, other actors to play either albin or georges included larry kert, jamie ross, walter charles, and keith michell. a 1996 non - musical film version of the same story called the birdcage starred robin williams, gene hackman, dianne wiest, calista flockhart, and nathan lane .
yet underneath all the raucous laughter stands a very serious truth. the fierce graciousness with which serrault and tognazzi go through their paces is not only funny but deeply touching. for while some spectators may have come to laugh at the likes of albin and renato, they soon find themselves laughing with and feeling for them. the reason is simple. albin is laurent’s mother in every way save for his gender. consequently, the plot’s climactic revelation of who he / she really is weds farce logic to strongly felt moral conviction. and that, in a nutshell, is why, after all these years and all these incarnations, la cage aux folles is more “of the moment” than ever. once an idle pipe dream, gay marriage is on the fast track to becoming a reality world­wide. who knew a french farce would lead the way ?
the movie was remade into hit film the birdcage in 1996, starring robin williams and nathan lane, taking more than $ 124m (£86. 7m) in the us alone .
bought this for my sister who could not attend a showing of the film at our french cinema club, it' s very funny, although looks dated now - a classic comedy .
the film is based on a long - running play in paris, and it' s a hit all over europe, but it was thought to be a slightly hard sell in this country, because... well, some people might reasonably expect to be turned off by the subject matter. now that
la cage
has set box office records in new york, however, we provincials are being allowed to see it, and i' d predict that, if it catches on, it' ll run for as long here as
cousin cousine
did. it' s funnier .
molinaro' s last major film was the ambitious 1996 biopic beaumarchais, l' insolent, adapted from an unfinished play by sacha guitry and starring fabrice luchini as the flamboyant adventurer and author .
la cage tells the story of georges and albin (played by daniel davis and gary beach), who are told by their son jean - michel (played by gavin creel) that he is marrying anne (angela gaylor), the daughter of a morals crusader. what anne and her parents don' t know is that the new in - laws are not only gay but run a notorious drag cabaret — with albin as the marquee star, zaza .
a classic... what more can i say? .... . if you have never seen this film you really should. a time capsule of those times and hilarious performances ...
“la cage” is the jerry herman - harvey fierstein musical in which one of the stars memorably confesses that when the going gets tough he simply puts on a little more mascara. director terry johnson succeeds so well here by putting on both more and less mascara simultaneously. more mascara by letting douglas hodge, in the guise of the flamboyant drag - queen albin (aka zaza), play the role like, well, more of a flamboyant drag - queen than in prior major productions. less mascara in that this is a stripped - down, mid - budget production; all those sequins and all that glitz that characterized broadway’s prior visits to st. tropez have been toned down, allowing the audience to concentrate more on the tender and relatively simple story at the heart of the piece. (but not simplistic; “la cage” is a masterpiece of dramaturgy compared to the similarly plotted musical they made out of “the addams family. ” )
tony award - winning actor and playwright harvey fierstein re - creates his role as the unsinkable arnold beckoff in this film adaptation of the smash broadway play torch song trilogy. a very... see full summary »
this film - maker, who had a rich and varied career, directed the greatest actors of french cinema while winning over the public, and winning the admiration of his peers, at the same time .
in 1981 he won the award for best actor at the cannes international film festival for his role in bernardo bertolucci' s
tragedia di un uomo ridicolo
(
the tragedy of a ridiculous man
) .
the theatre and film impresario — who is part of the current revival' s producing team — told variety' s army archerd that he plans to bring the jerry herman - harvey fierstein tuner to the big screen .
seen the english version but i still think that this french version is the best... michel serrault is such a good actor. the dvd is fine even if it is a old film. very good ...
in 1950 he made his first film ,
i caddetti di guascogna
(
the cadets of guascogna
). he followed that performance with a series of films that made him a popular character actor. a success in satire
molinaro' s first feature length film, le dos au mur (back to the wall), a blackmail comedy drama starring jeanne moreau, was critically acclaimed in 1958 but he began making his mark the following year with the taut thriller un témoin dans la ville (witness in the city). featuring lino ventura as the killer who must track down the paris taxi driver who saw him exiting a murder scene, un témoin dans la ville featured a jazz score by the tenor saxophonist barney wilen and drummer kenny clarke, a year after both contributed to the seminal soundtrack miles davis improvised for louis malle' s lift to the scaffold, and is less noir and elliptical than its antecedent but just as atmospheric in its use of paris locations and its depiction of the taxi driver' s milieu .
the birdcage grossed nearly $ 200 million worldwide in 1996, and that is significant. box office mojo says it' s the highest grossing queer film of all time, though they' re not counting frozen and 300, and they probably should .
david ehrenstein has been writing about film and gay politics since 1965, for a wide variety of publications. his books include the scorsese picture: the art and life of martin scorsese, open secret: gay hollywood 1928–2000, and masters of cinema: roman polanski .
when asked to explain what kind of show'' the lord of the rings'' is, patrons often confuse the title with that of the novel and film,'' the lord of the flies,'' said the shubert' s executive director, judith lisi .
after his success in
il federale
and dino risi' s
marcia su roma
(
the march on rome
), mr. tognazzi met marco ferreri, the director who gave him some of his greatest roles. together they made films that included
una storia moderna: l' ape regina
(
the conjugal bed
) in 1963 ,
la donna scimmia
(
the ape woman
) in 1964 ,
marcia nuziale
(
wedding march
) in 1966 ,
l' udienza
(
the audience
) in 1971 and
la grande bouffe
in 1973 .
if the project comes to fruition, it would mark the first time the stage musical has been adapted for the screen — though a trilogy of french films and the 1996 american film
the birdcage
starring nathan lane and robin williams are based on the same source material, jean poiret' s play .
the purveyors of the musical did exceptionally well, of course, and need have no regrets. but in my view ,
la cage ,
be it on screen or stage, is georges' story: how does he support laurent' s engagement without demeaning his long - time partner albin, who has served as the boy' s de facto mother? albin is very much indispensable to the plot, as the elephant in the closet (if you will); but this story is about georges, and in the musical he gets shunted aside by all those wigs and sequins — which was precisely what the vast majority of the musical comedy audience wanted in 1983, it turns out .
much as i love both gene hackman and robin williams - the remake of this wonderful film (the birdcage) lost so much in comparison. this, the original, has to be one of the funniest (if not the funniest) films i have ever seen. for best results set it up in french with subtitles and it is a tribute to the film itself that after a while these just blend in to the whole wonderful package. from the first few minutes with zaza' a major strop, through to the bitchiness in the final church scene, the whole film is a pure hystrical delight. the plot is well written and acted and as well as the two leads, there are wonderful supporting parts, notably from benny luke as the house boy jacob. michel serrault is simply wonderful as zaza and camps things up perfectly - there is humour throughout, but pathos as well. watch for the champagne cork popping scene - probably the funniest piece of cinema ever - and the wonderful timing with the serving of the soup when the stuffy future in - laws come for dinner. if you want a film to take you out of yourself and probably be reduced to eye - watering laughter, this is worth a look at a very reasonable price .
when alan carr (the producer of grease, not the bespectacled comedian) watched the film, he saw the basis for a ground - breaking new musical. he assembled a creative team including director arthur laurents (whose work includes alfred hitchcock’s rope and the barbra streisand - robert redford movie the way we were) .
, but this original is far funnier. although perhaps a little dated and stereotypical in its depiction of gay life there is real sympathy for, and affection conveyed between, renato and albin. the scenes with the charrier family, who, it turns out, have problems of their own, cut an utterly gloomy bourgeois contrast with the screaming flamboyance of the nightclub scenes. the charrier' s unscrupulous chauffeur is one of the film' s many treasures, his final
combien ?
provoking the film' s crowning guffaw. all this iced with a delicious soundtrack from ennio morricone which wafts with the nostalgic scent of late - 1970s south of france .
meanwhile, armand gives albert the obligatory lessons in he - manly behavior. and albert, who minces extravagantly, is even taught how to walk like john wayne. (where the french film accepted the wayne stride as a masculine ideal, this new version finds it interestingly peculiar .) mr. nichols puts his film through these paces with dependable comic agility, and rises to the requisite frantic pitch when the two families meet for dinner. regrettably, armand and albert' s wildly campy houseboy (hank azaria) has set out the pornographic china .
why, it looks like young men playing leapfrog !
sweetly exclaims mrs. keeley .
is it greek ?
poiret' s play allows jacob a number of lines in which he openly mocks his
masters
for their racism. in the transposition to the screen, molinaro abandons the exorcism effected by these explicit accusations, so that the filmed stereotype functions in silence, thus reinforcing conventional attitudes. i would not for a moment claim that molinaro' s intentions are overtly racist or overtly sexist, but the change in jacob from stage to screen may help us to grasp the hidden assumptions of the film. molinaro' s failure to avoid suspect signs of prejudice — a black servant in a white household, for example — indicates a low level of consciousness, an almost total lack of awareness of the existence of a social problem. such blindness or blissful ignorance can explain molinaro' s using hostility to women as the very substructure of his film. this substructure is unexamined, unexplained, and still so
natural
as to be invisible, no doubt, for molinaro himself and, unfortunately, for much of his film' s audience .
the french film, based on the stage play by jean poiret, obviously didn' t have that. but to an astonishing degree ,
the birdcage
amounts to a line - by - line copy, though ms. may often takes the original punch line and adds significantly more punch. for instance, when the story' s transvestite character has a tantrum and refuses to perform at the drag nightclub of the title, he' s told in the french film that there' s a large crowd waiting for him to go on. new version, set in south beach in miami instead of st. tropez :
there' s 150 people out there, half of them are kennedys, and they' re all waiting for you !
a lifer in the french film industry, director edouard molinaro brings little flash to the proceedings, mostly getting out of the way and letting that material—reshaped for the screen in large part by francis veber, who was about to start directing his own hit farces—do the work for him. and while the film never finds much of a rhythm, it largely does work, thanks in large part to the melancholy undertones serrault brings to albin. in one scene, renato tries to instruct him on how to butter toast in a more masculine fashion. later, albin wears a conservative suit and tries to look at ease. in both, he appears like a man at war with himself, pressured to pretend to be something he isn’t, at the cost of his own happiness .
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maclean' s o' toole compares renato' s and albin' s disguises to those “we all attempt
out of insecurity, self - defense or concern for reputation. certainly molinaro' s film adopts the perspective of its two central characters, both gay. but this point of view does not imply any acceptance of their situation as representative of the human condition nor even any belief in its resemblance to that of actual homosexuals .
in the film, though, your attention — or at least my attention — is on georges. the long - suffering georges is the center of the story, juggling his partner albin, his son laurent, the outré housemaid jacob, laurent' s birth - mother simone and the morally bombastic in - laws. that, it turns out, is what i' ve always missed in the musical: georges in the spotlight .
according to molinaro, on a new interview included on the disc, that’s an element absent from the play, and introduced for the film—and then under protest. molinaro describes the conservative serrault’s difficulty in playing “a real homosexual. it didn’t bother him to play a screaming transvestite queen performing a number onstage. in the play, it was almost like a clown act. but we asked him for greater reality and depth, and he wasn’t very comfortable with that. ” however deep his discomfort, that element of humanity and tenderness makes the film more than a well - oiled farce filled with stereotypical characters. tognazzi never seems particularly engaged, but serrault works overtime, creating a sense of shared history and the possibility of tragedy, should the central couple’s relationship fall apart. there’s more at stake here than whether two men can fool the straight world for a couple of hours .
hatch' s statement would be more readily applicable to the jean poiret play on which the film is based and which indeed takes homosexuality as its central subject. consequently, the play includes an internal criticism of jacob' s and albin' s behavior in such accusations as that of georges, the renato character in the play :
you' re practicing infantile homosexuality .
( paris: presses pocket, 1979, p. 79) .
it' s the story of renato (ugo tognazzi) and zaza (michel serrault), who have been lovers for 20 years and who run the cage, renato as the manager and zaza, whose real name is albin, as the star of the show. though renato is supposed to be the masculine member of the couple, his wrist is only slightly less limp than zaza' s. the difference between them is that zaza wears more makeup, cries more easily and complains about her lover' s indifference .
the leading performances are very much of the style of the film itself — energetic, broad, much too knowing and superficial. mr. tognazzi is a fine actor, but here he looks as ridiculous as his role. mr. serrault, who won the french equivalent to our oscar for his performance, is all too convincing as the hammy, temperamental transvestite. he minces more grossly than ever did billy de wolfe, and he lunges at pathos like someone playing right guard for the rams .
one of
the most successful foreign films ever shown in the u. s .
( the wall street journal), this
wildly hilarious
( independent film journal) french farce is
giddy, unpretentious andan entirely lovable film
( time)! when young laurent returns to exotic st. tropez, he bears big news for his beloved father, renato. laurent has found the girl of his dreams and they are engaged! what' s more, she and her family are on their way over for dinner at renato' s home to meet the in - laws - to - be. this traditional meeting of families seems typical, but because this ultraconservative family will be expecting to meet renato and wife, they' ll never be prepared for the shock of meeting renato and his flamboyant, campy, outrageous loverand dragqueenalbin! so in agreat effort to please his son, renato asks albin for the performance of a lifetime' setting up an unforgettable evening that is charged and ready to detonate an explosion of zaniness and absurdity .
mike nichols, the egot - holding director notable for films like who’s afraid of virginia woolf, the graduate, silkwood, and postcards from the edge, seemed like a natural fit for the project. with a screenplay written by his long - time comedy partner, elaine may, and a robust cast featuring robin williams, nathan lane, gene hackman, and dianne weist, the birdcage was a box - office smash when it was released in 1996. it was faithful to the original film, only slightly americanizing the plot .
the use molinaro makes of charrier himself, who within his own milieu plays a fool' s role comparable to that of albin, proves revealing. with their initial appearances on camera, molinaro begins to establish the parallel: we see both charrier and albin sneak the chocolates they are not allowed. already molinaro associates charrier with self - indulgent and weak willed women as well as with albin. and in the film' s finale, charrier is forced to dress in drag to escape the photographers and reporters who lie in wait outside the club.
la cage aux folles is a 1978 franco-italian comedy film and the first film adaptation of jean poiret 's 1973 play of the same name . it is co-written and directed by édouard molinaro and stars ugo tognazzi and michel serrault . 
la cage aux folles is a 1978 franco-italian comedy film and the first film adaptation of jean poiret's 1973 play of the same name. it is co-written and directed by édouard molinaro and stars ugo tognazzi and michel serrault.
la cage aux folles is a 1978 franco-italian comedy film and the first film adaptation of jean poiret's 1973 play of the same name. it is co-written and directed by édouard molinaro and stars ugo tognazzi and michel serrault.