C.R.A.Z.Y.

Plot synopsis:
Zac was born on Christmas in 1960. He had a special relationship with his father Gervais, but things began to fall apart as Zac's non-masculine ways started to show. Their unique relationship officially came to an end when Gervais comes home to find Zac dressed in his mother's clothes. Ever since then, he "had unwittingly declared war on his father".
At the Christmas party in 1975, Zac shotguns a joint with his cousin Brigitte's boyfriend Paul, which sparks Zac's attraction. His friend Michelle tries to kiss him, but Zac stops her with the excuse of protecting their friendship. Later on, he discovers that Brigitte is no longer with Paul. In a moment of spontaneity, Zac runs a red light on his motorcycle, only to be struck by a car and hospitalized. Zac later learns that Brigitte is back with Paul.
Zac begins a relationship with Michelle, temporarily relieving Gervais — until he sees Zac stepping out of the car with a male classmate, adjusting his crotch. Angry, Gervais has Zac see a therapist to "cure" him of his homosexuality. The therapist's conclusion was that Zac made "a subconscious deliberate mistake", intentionally doing it so that Gervais would catch him and find out he was gay.
At the Christmas dinner in 1980, Zac and Michelle's relationship has become closer and more physical. His brother Christian announces his engagement. At Christian's wedding reception, Zac and Paul shotgun a joint outside, but are seen by a guest who thought they were kissing. Gervais overhears this gossip, and chaos ensues. Gervais confronts Zac in the pouring rain, and Zac admittedly comes out, yelling that while he was not kissing Paul, he wished he had been. A sobbing, eavesdropping Michelle runs out of hiding, and Gervais tells Zac to leave. Zac flies to Jerusalem. Disgusted with himself after a gay sexual escapade, he walks into the desert and collapses in exhaustion. A Bedouin, who found Zac, drips water on Zac's face and takes Zac into his care.
Zac returns home to find his second eldest brother hospitalized after a heroin overdose, who dies the next day. After the funeral, Gervais hugs Zac emotionally. Ten years after his brother's death, Zac narrates that Gervais "had become my father once more", even to the point of allowing his lover into his house.

Tags: boring, flashback, psychedelic, humor, storytelling, queer

Review:
The father is a fully rounded character, not cast in the black and white mold so prevalent in other movies of this genre as his puzzled love for his fourth son Zac, played by Marc-André Grondin, is palpable.The movie takes off in completely unexpected directions.
She has a wonderful scene with Gervais where they discuss anal sex and a couple of others where her psychic ties to her son Zac are evident but never discussed.The film just gets under your skin, you are there, in that microcosm of time when the world was changing so drastically and we just didn't know it.
For example the main character a young boy who is deeply conflicted with his sexuality is told he has the ability to heal people just by thinking of them if they are hurt...something which is uniquely Quebecois "old wives tale" The movie spans 2 decades or so, and the recreation of those decades from the house decor, to the music is really well done.
The sound track shows in equal weights great Quebec classics along side such rock legends of the time of Pink Floyd and David Bowie.The movie is great not because of a complicated twisty plot but rather really well acted and created characters.
To say it bluntly, it is to my advice the best Quebec movie ever made, and from a more global perspective a very good movie no matter what you choose to compare it to.It is a story about a young homosexual (although it isn't clearly stated in the film, and it probably would be closer to the truth to say he's bisexual), born in the 60's.
We see him evolving through the next three decades, with all the difficulties one might see in having troubles with sexual orientation in theses years (among which the perception of other people of his age, questions about himself because of the taboo nature of the topic, problems having it accepted by parents and so on).There's many things that make me to say it's the best Quebec-made movie ever.
The three main antagonists in the movie (Zac, his brother Raymond and his father) have developed relationships with each other that are by no mean static, and in fact no even always antagonistic.
Some dialogs are actually quite funny (like the one about sodomy between Zac's father and his wife, in which Michel Côté shows he's a damn good actor).Finally, I would say that the movie is also successful in not using easy clichés when it comes to homosexuality.
The acting, everyone from Emile Vallee who plays the young Zach (actually the director's son) to a awesome performance by Michel Cote as the father of the family, is also wonderful.
Quebec cinema is a hidden gem in North America and C.R.A.Z.Y. shines like a diamond among the lumps of coal put out by the big name studios in the U.S. Jean-Marc Vallée (director) proves that you do not need mega-bucks to make a quality film (C.R.A.Z.Y. cost 7 million dollars to produce).
You will hear from this movie.The director, jean-Marc Vallée, brings us in the peaceful and warm-hearted Quebec of the 60s and 70s which is a period of great changes in all North America.
I thought the acting was amazing and certainly the strong performances bring such a life and realism to the characters that it helps to truly elevate the story, which is really the key to this film.
But, here and now, let's look a little deeper into our thinking about the three more important members of this C.R.A.Z.Y family: there's Michel Cote's "Dad"---he's the anchor around which "Zac's" life raft circles.
But never forget Danielle Proulx's "Mom"---she's every gay boy's "dream-delight" of a parent, the one who knows how to keep that 'different' child on an even keel.Here's a film trip downright engineered to dig up / dredge out memories of times with "Dad".......times in car washing driveways, times of just-you-two car rides----"connecting times" you'd thought....you'd hoped......but maybe not.
Took him a very long time to figure out how to do so, didn't it?Finally, one thing truly stands out for me, and that is how very difficult it has to be for an, essentially, first-time theatrical film actor to, let's face it, carry a 2+ hour movie.........this being Grondin's first-ever theatrical release film since reaching teenage.
The public wasn't ready for it and that's why they didn't like it." The Hanging Garden (a good movie otherwise) has that type of problem: a sex scene between two very young teenage boys.
As it's telling the story of the main characters it takes us through three different decades, a little like "Forrest Gump" does, showing how fashion and the whole lifestyle changed over the years.
The main focus, however, is on a boy called Zach, his coming of age, his ambivalent relationship to his family and the trouble with him and his father accepting that Zach is gay.
It's a amazing!A very heavy emotion in,I am moving!I think it's a pressure from Z'parents,he living in a spicial expectation,it's a source of why he is a spicial man.Michel Côté is a very good actor,though I never know him before,but I will see his film in the future as I can.I was picked it up from so many DVD in the shop,I think it's a spicial one!C.R.A.Z.Y And I want to know how did the writer create this story,maybe from his childhood,I have some feelings like him although I am a only one child in my family!
On the surface it's a uncannily accurate portal into growing-up-gay in Quebec (as I did), but more importantly, about the family fabric that seems to pull together Quebecers in a way that I haven't experienced living elsewhere in the world.Was moved to tears several times, and came out of the experience feeling hopeful and amazed.
He is the fourth of five sons and he is "special" in many ways, including that he is a sort of favourite of the father (Michel Côté) and is believed to have the gift of healing.This film follows Zachary from a child into his teenage years, and then into his early twenties.
Set in the Quebec of the 60s and 70s, it is the story - amusing, quirky, poignant, sad - of Zac Beaulieu (the Z of the title) born on one Christmas Day as one of five very different brothers (the initial letters of the names of the others spell out C.R.A.Z.Y. and the song with this title features on the soundtrack).Zac's doubtful sexuality is a problem for him, his girlfriend and his Catholic parents, especially the macho but loving father played by Michel Côté and the resolution of this situation is not without confusion and pain.
The role of Zac is played by Marc-André Grondin, who was unfamiliar to me before this film, but I must say he does some very fine job in it.The story is focused on Zac, but there are also his dad, mom and four other brothers who all are, quoting the plot outline, in search of their own love and happiness.
As for the deeply touching scenes, no matter how sad they might appear, nothing can compare to the last 5 minutes of the movie: from the lack of words between the characters to the touching final words ushered by Zac even to the ending credits score/music (Which moved me beyond words)...
My list of Canadian movies is embarrassingly short so, boy, I'm glad for this: Rich, exquisite coming-of-age chronicle of Quebeq youngster and his suburban family (including four brothers!) through the '60s, '70s and early '80s...
who have to come to terms with split generation values, religion, drugs, sibling rivalry and foremost - the protagonist's lifelong struggle to establish and accept his sexual identity.A memorably moving, sometimes sweetly old-fashioned and beautifully nuanced movie; a thankfully rare multi-faceted portrait of a family and its members through changing times.
We see him grow up through the 60s, 70s and 80s, managing to pull himself together learning to cope with his 4 brothers, strict father and adoring mother.The film has a great soundtrack which changes the atmosphere of the different eras and also depicts teenage life throughout the 70s to a tee.
It specifically looks at the troubles one can have learning who they are growing up and specifically focuses on relationships a family who are so different from each other but are bound by love.Although the film is French and is in subtitles, don't let this put you off...
If you liked films that explore the good and bad sides of life and then makes you think and reflect about your own life after watching it then you should take a look at this...
A time when everyone was unsure about who they were (and still are, actually, to a degree) as the world was changing while they were still trying to adapt to yesterday's change.Like any authentic work of art, C.R.A.Z.Y. is about what the film maker needs to say, not about what the audience wants to hear.
First half of this movie -- our lead character is not comfortable with the boy gender role his father wants him to fit -- was as tight, inventive and funny as anything I've seen this year.
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.
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.
He easily melds time-lines and ages, fantasy sequences with harsher reality, and best of all a teenager's conflict between being himself and being who everybody else wants him to be (especially when everyone from your father to the girl that loves you to your brother to your mother want something & someone different).
I can't say enough good about the movie, but I will say that English Canada should run out to see it simply because we can -- apparently there may not be a distribution of the movie in the U.S., which I can only think is a pity for the Americans as they'll be missing what is easily the best family-life film in a long time and will rank for me as one of the best films of this year and perhaps even this decade..
In it's native Canada however the film was a huge success, outselling big Hollywood blockbusters that year and sweeping the Genie Awards (the Canadian equivalent of the Oscars) later on.It's most definitely a feel-good audience pleaser despite some darker moments and I have a hard time imagining anyone not liking it.
The title of the film comes from the first initials of the family's 5 brothers as well as the Patsy Cline tune Crazy that the father is obsessed with.
The film races his life from his early youth and his great respect and love for his dad and how he was afraid to go to summer camp, to his teen years in which he encountered a lot of problems with school and with his oldest brother Christian who always tried to defend him and his father's problems with his sex life, to around his mid-twenties in which he finally lets things flow like they should.
I watched C.R.A.Z.Y. knowing absolutely nothing about it and from the first few minutes I was completely engaged, it is the perfect periodic coming of age film, it has a good mix of drama and comedy, it brilliantly captures the setting while also making appealing to a modern day audience and the characters and the situations they find themselves in are both entertaining and realistic.
The actors are also brilliant I would go as far as to rate Michel Cote's portrayal of Gervais, the father, as one of the finest performances I have ever seen.I re-watched C.R.A.Z.Y. yesterday and thought it was even better than the first time, it's a film with so much depth that it won't get boring no matter how many times I watch it, it can be difficult for a film to deal with so many characters and themes and not go over board with them but C.R.A.Z.Y. manages to pull it off.
This film is remarkable, amazing, splendid, fantastic.Anyone who watches this film can find something to relate to, whether it be the "nerd" son, the "jock", the outcast, the rebel, or the youngest, mom or dad, or even as a female since many play a role in this film.C.R.A.Z.Y. is about living life as you are, different paths we choose, religion, faith, family, friends, love, music, relationships, passion, and so much more.There are various aspects to this film and only a fool would not enjoy it!
If you have a brother, son, daughter, cousin, friend, mother, father who is gay, then this is a film for you to watch and learn.
The title of the film may put some people off as silly, so let it be said early on that the letters C.R.A.Z.Y. represent the first names of the sons of the Beaulieu family - and the fun, hilarious and touching story starts from there!
Christmas Day is the birth of Zachary Beaulieu (impressive Marc-André Grondin as a young man and Émile Vallée as a youth), the fourth son of Gervais Beaulieu (a brilliant Michel Côté) and his seemingly perpetually pregnant wife Laurianne Beaulieu (Danielle Proulx, a superb actress), and at his birth he is immediately dropped on the floor, 'dies' for a few seconds, and is resuscitated, a fact which later leads his mother to consult her Tupperware friend/seer about Zachary's power from God to heal other people.
Gervais claims all of the good points of his boys as patterned after him, yet as he faces Zachary's possibly being gay he balks and it is only after a mesmerizing life changing experience Zachary undergoes that Zachary and Gervais finally find the mutual love they have both needed.Though the film is long (running time is over two hours) the film seems to fly past us like a comet of experience to which we all can relate.
The performances are so very powerful that they sweep us away with the amount of love they exhibit: Danielle Proulx as the mother is so subtle in the little things she does for her beloved though at times wayward sons that she glows and Michel Côté steals the screen as a father searching for understanding of his crew of crazy boys.
Zac also conflicts with an older brother who becomes a second shame to the family as a drug addict.CRAZY, which won the Genie Award for best film of 2005, is a solid and honest drama, partly realistic and tied together with themes of Christmas, miracles, songs and sexual identity.
Jean-Marc Vallee's lively film 'C.R.A.Z.Y.' is a story of growing up gay in a large, dysfunctional, working class and deeply religious family in French Canada.
This film tells the story of a boy with four other brothers, who has homosexual tendencies while growing up in a conservative family.I like the fact that the film's title comes from the names of the five brothers.
The film gets off to a very good start, starting on the protagonist as a young boy with a lot of quirky comedy and some magic realism as he discovers he has gift for calming his baby brother, as he is told by a Tupperware lady that he has special healing powers and as he prays to not be a "fairy" while loving toys that girls tend to like.
Marc-André Grondin, Michel Côté and Danielle Proulx offer the best performances I've seen in a film in a long time.
The constant themes of music, sex and religious experience play against and with each other in sometimes fascinating, sometimes alienating ways.Everyone in the film, at least the main players, seem to be searching for an experience beyond themselves, and they all seem to take a different path to get there...The father (Michel Cote) uses music, and the scene in which he blissfully misses the news of his son's death because of the Patsy Cline pouring through his headphones is a prime example...he spends the entire movie pretending to be Charles Aznavour.The eldest brother (Pierre-Luc Brilliant), on the other hand, takes the more obvious route of promiscuous sex, booze and drugs, favored by many as the escape route of choice...The mother (Danielle Proulx) chooses the solace of religion and a vicarious life of holiness through her near-saint of a son.Zac, the main character, is the only one who seems to actually escape, changing his Self to fit what it should be, as opposed to what it was molded to be by family and society.Visually, the film does an amazing job of capturing the feel of Quebec in the various decades of the late 20th century.
I can easily relate to the main character of the movie, being born in 1958 in a working class family just like him (happily not at Christmas time).