#671: MOLINARO, Edouard: La Cage Aux Folles (1978)

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MOLINARO, Edouard (France)
La Cage Aux Folles [1978]
Spine #671
Blu-ray


Renato (Ugo Tognazzi) and Albin (Michel Serrault) — a middle-aged gay couple who are the manager and star performer at a glitzy drag club in Saint-Tropez — agree to hide their sexual identities, along with their flamboyant personalities and home decor, when the ultraconservative parents of Renato's son's fiancée come for a visit. This elegant comic scenario kicks off a wild and warmhearted French farce about the important of nonconformity and being true to oneself. A breakout art-house smash in America, Edouard Molinaro's La Cage aux Folles inspired a major Broadway musical and the blockbuster remake The Birdcage. But with its hilarious performances and ahead-of-its-time social message, there's nothing like the audacious, dazzling original movie.

96 minutes
Color
Monaural
in French
1:66:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2013
Director/Writers


From the play by Jean Poiret.
Adaptation and dialogue by Francis Veber, Edouard Molinaro, Poiret, and Marcello Danon.
Molinaro was 50 when he directed La Cage Aux Folles.

The Film

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

The Booklet

Sixteen page booklet featuring an essay by critic David Ehrenstein.

Commentary

None.

Interview 1

With director Molinaro.

Archival footage

Featuring actor Serrault and Poiret, writer and star of the original stage production of La Cage aux Folles.

Interview 2

With Laurence Senelick, author of The Changing Room: Sex, Drag and Theatre.

French and U.S. trailers

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

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