World View
It goes without saying that the output of the big Hollywood studios casts a menacing shadow over the other film makers. Yet away from the crude multiplexes which spoon feed us trite escapism with our toffee popcorn, beacons of directorial talent nonetheless shine through: and not least from America’s placid neighbour, Canada. C.R.A.Z.Y.
released this week, caused a buzz of critical approval in Canada last year, not to mention astonishment that a francophone film, made in Quebec, should storm the Canadian box offices so. Many attributed its success to the nostalgic charm of its inter-generational drama. Set around 70s Montreal, it is a coming of age story of a young gay man living, together with his four siblings, under the strict rule of a rigorous patriarch.
The film takes advantage of the opportunities its genre offers very nimbly. Bolstered by good acting and seamlessly paced, the film also boasts a strong, if familiar, soundtrack, heavily laden with Bowie, the perennial cool kid’s sexually ambiguous pin-up. However, with the pink flag flying high in Hollywood at the moment, C.R.A.Z.Y. runs the risk of being thoroughly pigeonholed. For, while it’s great to sense the feelers of fresh Canadian cinematic talent reaching out to Europe and the U.S.
there is little about the film which charts territory unknown to American or British film makers apart from its setting. Denys Arcand, perhaps the best known francophone director within Canada, was awarded an Oscar for his 2003 Barbarian Invasions, an eye wateringly funny, if melancholy, affair. Despite receiving the most sought-after award in cinema, the film did not reach as wide an audience as it might. As with C.R.A.Z.
, The Barbarian Invasions and its prequel, The Decline of the American Empire, explore relationship dynamics between both friends and family. Made in 1986, the first film’s joyously wordy comedy carried its endearing characters through various extramarital misdemeanours. In the 2003 sequel, the director calls back the original cast, whose lives seem to have taken a downward turn, and whose now-adult children become caught in their parent’s entangled pasts.
Rather than dampening the carefree spirit of its predecessor, the darkness of The Barbarian Invasions provides a refreshing antidote to the ‘happy ending’ prescribed by the cautious C.R.A.Z.Y.
27th Apr 2006