My Life in Pink (1997)
"Ma vie en rose" (original title)

Ludovic is a small boy who cross-dresses and generally acts like a girl, talks of marrying his neighbor's son and can not understand why everyone is so surprised about it. His actions lead ... See full summary »

Director:

Alain Berliner

Writers:

Alain Berliner, Chris Vander Stappen

Stars:

Michèle Laroque, Jean-Philippe Écoffey, Hélène Vincent

Won 1 Golden Globe. Another 12 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michèle Laroque	...	Hanna Fabre
Jean-Philippe Écoffey	...	Pierre Fabre
Hélène Vincent	...	Élisabeth
Georges Du Fresne	...	Ludovic Fabre
Daniel Hanssens	...	Albert
Laurence Bibot	...	Lisette
Jean-François Gallotte	...	Thierry
Caroline Baehr	...	Monique
Julien Rivière	...	Jérôme
Marie Bunel	...	Psychoanalyst
Gregory Diallo	...	Thom Fabre
Erik Cazals De Fabel	...	Jean Fabre
Cristina Barget	...	Zoé Fabre
Delphine Cadet	...	Pam
Morgane Bruna	...	Sophie

Storyline

Ludovic is a small boy who cross-dresses and generally acts like a girl, talks of marrying his neighbor's son and can not understand why everyone is so surprised about it. His actions lead to problems for him and his family.

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Plot Keywords:

girl | boy | little girl | gender | belief in hell | 

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Taglines:

Sometimes you just have to be yourself.

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for brief strong language

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Pictures Classics

Country:

France Belgium UK

Language:

French

Release Date:

26 December 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

My Life in Pink

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$76,212 (USA) (26 December 1997)

Gross:

$2,280,573 (USA) (10 April 1998)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Canal+, Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC), Cofimage 8

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Goofs

When Ludovic is helping Elisabeth put on a cucumber mask, the number and position of cucumber slices on her face changes between shots.

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Quotes

Élisabeth: Is that your dad's boss's son you are playing with?
Ludovic Fabre: Yes.
Élisabeth: You two are pals?
Ludovic Fabre: Yes. We're going to get married once I'm not a boy.
Élisabeth: Once you're not a boy.

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Connections

Featured in SexTV: The Boy Code... Forming Masculinity/The Descent of Men (2003)

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Soundtracks

"Rose"
Interprété par Zazie
avec l'aimable autorisation de Mercury

User Reviews

His life as a girl

Most comments submitted to this forum seem to give credit to the French cinema for bringing "Ma vie en rose" to the screen. While this is a co-production, the film is a Belgian movie, as well as its talented director, Alain Berliner, who co-wrote the screen treatment with Chris Vander Stappen.

We first saw this excellent film in a film festival before its commercial release. Thanks to IFCTV, which is airing it lately, we revisited it, and again, we were charmed by this unpretentious movie that has its heart in the right places. The idea of Ludovic, the young boy, who thinks of himself as a girl, has been discussed in some of the wonderful comments submitted to IMDb.

"Ma vie en rose" is a film that has the courage to tackle a subject that is different from all what one sees in mainstream movies. It also has a lot of messages for the viewer, but those issues are lightly handled by the writers, who had the common sense of treating the film in such manner, instead of throwing it one's face. In fact, it shows how resilient little Ludovis is in spite of all the rejection he suffers at the hands of his peers, as well as the adults, who should have a better understanding of the situation.

Little Georges de Fresne does excellent work under Mr. Berliner's direction. He is never bratty and one's heart goes to him because no child should suffer for something they didn't create and have no control about who they really are.

The R rating ought to be examined more closely. For a film that doesn't have any nudity, violence or sex, that classification seems too extreme by a film that should be watched by a wider cross section.

Thanks to Mr. Berliner for dealing with a taboo with a lot of class.