La Cage aux folles (1978) - film review

Renato and Albin are a gay couple living in St Tropez, Renato managing a notorious night club in which Albin performs a drag act.  Renato is appalled when he learns that his son, Laurent, (the product of a one-night stand twenty years ago) reveals that he is going to get married – to a young woman.  To make matters worse, Laurent’s fiancée is the daughter of Simon Charrier, a prudish diplomat who heads a political party of impeccable morals.  When Charrier insists on seeing his prospective son-in-law’s parents, Renato and Albin have to make drastic changes to their lifestyle to convince him that his daughter is marrying into a respectable family.  Needless-to-say, all does not go according to plan...

When it was released in the late 1970s, La Cage aux folles was years ahead of its time, in both its sympathetic portrayal of gay relationships and its courage in challenging society’s assumptions about the gay lifestyle.  Remarkably, it enjoyed mainstream success on both sides of the Atlantic, being particularly popular in the United States where it quickly developed a cult following.   Today, the characters may appear outrageously camp stereotypes, but the film’s underlying premise remains true, and it is in essence a hilariously funny film.

One of the most extraordinary things about this film is that the two leading gay characters, Albin and Renato, are played by two of Europe’s most distinguished character actors, Michel Serrault and Ugo Tognazzi.  Both actors are better known for appearing in conventional dramas, playing straight characters in both senses of the word.   Tognazzi’s philandering butch Renato is perfectly complemented by Serrault’s hyper-sensitive effeminate Albin.  Both portrayals are unashamed stereotypes, but, surprisingly, ones which neither bore nor offend the audience.  The characters have the guileless innocence and feckless lovability that you would find in a children’s pantomime.

With its relentlessly funny dialogue and comic situations, the film is undoubtedly one of the most entertaining French films of the 1970s.   The ending is perhaps somewhat drawn out and flat, but given the quality of the material which precedes this (including some incredible characters, such as the outrageous black servant boy) such minor blemishes are easily overlooked.

The film was based on a popular stage play by Jean Poiret (which went on to become a long-running musical on Broadway).  The film itself was followed by two sequels, both popular films, but perhaps lacking the freshness and sparkling originality of the first film.

© James Travers 2002

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