La cage aux folles (Il vizietto / Birds of a Feather) (1978) by Edouard Molinaro

[reviews_and_ramblings]

Two gay men living in St. Tropez have their lives turned upside down when the son of one of the men announces he is getting married. They try conceal their lifestyle and their ownership of the transvestite club downstairs when the fiancée and her parents come for dinner.

Director: Edouard Molinaro

Writers: Jean Poiret (play "La cage aux folles")
Francis Veber (screenplay) &
Edouard Molinaro (screenplay) &
Marcello Danon (screenplay) &
Jean Poiret (screenplay)

Release Date: 25 October 1978 (France)
30 March 1979 (USA)

Genres: Comedy

Storyline: 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.

Trivia: It ran for well over a year at the 68th Street Playhouse, in New York City, as well as theaters throughout the country, in both urban and rural areas.
The Broadway musical based on this movie opened on Aug 21, 1983 at the Palace Theatre, ran for 1761 performances and won the 1984 Tony Awards for Best Musical, Book and Score.

@IMDb
@Amazon: La Cage Aux Folles (1979)
@Netflix

 









Cast (in credits order)
Ugo Tognazzi ... Renato Baldi
Michel Serrault ... Albin Mougeotte / 'Zaza Napoli'
Claire Maurier ... Simone Deblon
Rémi Laurent ... Laurent Baldi
Carmen Scarpitta ... Louise Charrier
Benny Luke ... Jacob
Luisa Maneri ... Andrea Charrier
Michel Galabru ... Simon Charrier
Venantino Venantini ... Le chauffeur de Charrier
Carlo Reali ... The bouncer
Guido Cerniglia ... The doctor
Angelo Pellegrino
Nicola D'Eramo
Vinicio Dimanti (as Vinicio Diamanti)
Liana Del Balzo ... Mme Charrier
Piero Mazzinghi ... A journalist
Walter Lucchini
Bruno Squeglia (as Bruno Sgueglia)
Margherita Horowitz ... Secretary of Mrs. de Blanc
Antonio Maimone
Antonio Maronese
Edmondo Tieghi
Peter Boom ... Waiter in restaurant
Cesare Nizzica
Giancarlo Pellegrini ... A night club assistant
Mariano Brancaccio
Renato De Montis
Vittorio Podini
Giuseppe Di Bella
Paolo Di Bella (as F. Paolo Di Bella)
Alberto Ambrosio
Rolando Quaranta

     
Renato & Albin

Comments

[elisa-rolle.livejournal.com]

It's strange how time turns the meaning of a movie. La cage aux folles (Il vizietto in Italian) "came out" (no pun intended) in 1978, a period in time when the comedy was not sophisticated, but kitch and heavy. I think no one, nor the director or the actor, wanted to prove something with this movie, they wanted only to do a good comedy. Ugo Tognazzi was one of the most famous Italian actor of the time, someone who more or less always played the playboy, or at least a woman's man, and to choose him for the role of Renato was searching for accentuate the contrast. But when the movie came out in 1978 it was a shock: gay people living as family? one of them having a son? not being repentant, and above all having a good, and wealthy, life? Is it even possible? Yes it was and Il Vizietto gave the chance to many people to realize there was a whole other side of the world to discover.

[angelabenedetti.livejournal.com]

I was in high school when this came to the US, and I went with a bunch of my friends. It was awesome and I loved it. :) The remake in English, much as I love Robin Williams, was nowhere near as good. Neither was the French sequel; I saw that one too, and it was okay but I was kind of disappointed.

The original is a classic, though. :D

Angie

[elisa-rolle.livejournal.com]

They did 2 sequels but the third movie I don't think it arrived in the USA. It was an huge success also in Italy, but indead the first one was the best.

[shadownyc.livejournal.com]

I adore this film!!!

[elisa-rolle.livejournal.com]

I think it was one of the first movie I saw with gay characters

[lucifuge-5.livejournal.com]

Reading this post takes me back to being a kid because I remember my parents and their friends talking about it. All in all, it wasn't until I was about twelve years old (more or less) that I got to watch it.

Like you said, the comedy aspect is ultra-campy (very un-PC according to some.) But, I think that (like other earlier lgtb movies), they served a purpose by not making the lgtb characters invisible.

I haven't watched it in over a decade. Now I'm curious to see how it's held up in contrast to the way I remember it.

The U.S. remake with Nathan Lane and Robin Williams lacked a LOT of the "je ne se quois" that the Italian original had. Also, imho, the casting of some of the characters was off.

[elisa-rolle.livejournal.com]

I think that force a lot of people to admit that gays exist and had an ordinary life.