C.R.A.Z.Y.
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Félix-Antoine Despatie, Francis Ducharme, Michel Côté, Pierre-Luc Brillant, Sébastien BlouinDVD: Region Code 1
Audio: French (Unknown); French (Original Language)
Format: Dolby, Import, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 129 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-11-01
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Tva Films
Movie Reviews of C.R.A.Z.Y.
Movie Review: one of the best films of 2005
Summary: 5 Stars
The French-Canadian film "C.R.A.Z.Y." begins on Christmas Day 1960 with the birth of Zac Beaulieu, the fourth of what will turn out to be five sons of Gervais and Laurianne Beaulieu. From very early on, Zac begins to see himself as somehow "different" from his other brothers and, indeed, from all other boys around him. While his other siblings seem to have found their individual niches in life - one's a cool Casanova-type ladykiller, another a rough-and-tumble jock, another a book-obsessed brainiac - Zac suffers from asthma, wets his bed and would rather play with a baby carriage than the hockey game his father bought him for his birthday/Christmas present. In fact, thanks to his sharing his birthday with Jesus, Zac's devout but highly superstitious Catholic mother has always believed her boy has some miraculous connection with the healing powers of the Savior (obscure relatives are encouraged to call the Beaulieu residence when they are suffering from some minor injury or illness). Zac's dad, meanwhile, struggles with making sure Zac doesn't turn out to be a mollycoddled "fairy," which would be not only a disgrace to the family but an embarrassing indictment of himself as a father .
"C.R.A.Z.Y." takes its title from both the first letters of each of the boys' names as well as the Patsy Cline song that is a particular favorite of their father's. This is a brilliantly perceptive and emotionally devastating look into the heartbreaking struggle that gay youngsters have to endure growing up in a world that teaches them that there is something "wrong" with them if they happen to find themselves drawn to people of the same rather than the opposite gender. The last thing Zac wants to admit to himself, let alone to anyone else, is that he is attracted to other boys. When his father suspects that Zac may be heading in that direction, the son perceives a change in the man's attitude towards him. The dad to whom he once felt so close suddenly seems distant and no longer accepting of his boy. Thus, fearing rejection from the very people who mean the most to him, and with no one and nowhere else to turn to, Zac spends much of his life fruitlessly pleading with God to perform a miracle of "change" in him and to take away his "affliction" (he is so steeped in self-denial that he convinces himself that it is his asthma he is praying about and not his sexuality). He also gets himself a girlfriend as a way of hiding the truth from himself and others, and sublimates his own anger and self-hatred by beating up another boy whom Zac suspects of being the same way. However, through various key incidents and events in his life and the life of his family, Zac slowly comes to accept himself and to even make some inroads into the heart of his recalcitrant father.
Based largely on his own experiences growing up in Montreal, director Jean-Marc Vallee has co-written (with Francois Boulay) a beautifully insightful screenplay that not only shows the fear, loneliness and self-loathing that come to dominate Zac's life, but perfectly captures the complex dynamics of life in this one family. The father is by no means a "bad" man; he is a faithful provider who loves his wife and children and wants only the best for them. The fact that he can't accept his son's possible homosexuality is an understandable by-product of the time and society in which he lives. Like all of us, he fears that which he doesn't understand, and with no precedents - either personal or societal - to help guide him in this area, he firmly believes that he is doing the right thing in first taking Zac to a counselor to "cure" him, then banishing him from his home when Zac is seen in a car with another man. Ironically, Zac's mother, despite her tendency towards mysticism and superstition, is, in many ways, the most level-headed and tethered-to-reality of all the people in the family, arguing that their boy is no less worthy of love and acceptance simply because he isn`t like all the rest. Even though the characters fill the roles set for them by society, none of them is a cliché or stereotype but is instead a fully-rounded individual, with the good and bad traits, strengths and weaknesses that we all share as human beings.
Despite its miniscule budget, the movie is ambitious in scope, spanning a period of 21 years from 1960 to 1981, capturing the flavor of the era through such defining touchstones as drug use and the music of David Bowie, Pink Floyd and the Rolling Stones. Rather than following a set formula, the script frequently veers off into unexpected paths and by-ways, making it appear less theatrical in nature and more like real life.
The performances by Marc-Andre Grondin as Zac, Michael Cote as his father, and Danielle Proulx as his mother are beautiful and heartbreaking to behold. Grondin, in particular, has an amazing talent for showing us a character whose internal impulses are constantly at war with his external actions. Emile Vallee is also superb as Zac at a younger age.
This is a beautifully realized tale of the dangers of repression and of the importance of accepting people for who and what they are. Blessed with one of the most emotionally wrenching endings in recent movie history, "C.R.A.Z.Y." takes its place among the very finest films of 2005.
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