C.R.A.Z.Y. (TVA FILMS, 2005)

By Rick Jackson

Family life is celebrated in C.R.A.Z.Y., a powerful and intelligently told film co-written and directed by Jean-Marc Vallee. Framed at the beginning and end by the birth and eath of a family member in the Beaulieu family, it's what happens in between that serves as a universal slice of life. It is told through the eyes of son Zach, who is born on Christmas Day 1960.

In their screenplay, Vallee and Francois Boulay focus on Zach's own individuality as a person who felt different from his three older brothers and one younger brother. As the narrator, he reveals how strong the family ties are and the emotions and feelings of how he managed to survive as the gay member, and his father who accepted him back in the family fold after ten years.

Early in the film, Zach says, "I had just turned seven and unwittingly I had declared war on my father." While growing up he is called a fairy and a faggot but it's his determination to live in a world of diversity, including a world trip to visit Jerusalem, that he comes to terms with his religious beliefs. Raised a staunch Roman Catholic, he becomes an athiest but leaves the possibility open for change.

His brothers Raymond, Antoine, Christian, and Yvan all have their own problems. As adults, all of them but Raymond, the oldest, is able to cope with life until he becomes a drug addict.

How Vallee shapes the mult-layers of family life underscores the problems faced by these five brothers. For anyone who grew up in a large family, you will be able to identify with it.

One of the most important characters is Gervais, the father, well played by Michael Cote. His strong performance holds the film together as the strict disciplinarian because he feels his children must learn to grow up responsibly. For this family it becomes a testing ground for the unwelcome changes in attitude, including disrespect for your elders.

Religious symbolism guides the story's main plot thread since the church plays an important role in the development of French-Canadian life. Quite effective is how Vallee shows a teenaged Zach at the midnight mass rising above the congregation singing "Sympathy For The Devil" by The Rolling Stones.

A box-office hit in Quebec in 2005, C.R.A.Z.Y. closed the Kingston Canadian Film Festival on its last night with a free screening.

March 11, 2006

Copyright 2006 Rick Jackson