Ma vie en rose (1997)

Director:

Alain Berliner

Writers:

Alain Berliner (writer)
Chris Vander Stappen (writer)

Release Date:

26 December 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Sometimes you just have to be yourself.

Plot:

Ludovic is a small boy who cross-dresses and generally acts like a girl, talks of marrying his neighbor's...

Plot Keywords:

Young Boy | Gender | Gender Identity | Wedding | Male Wearing Makeup

Awards:

Won Golden Globe. Another 11 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

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

Also Known As:

Ma vie en rose (USA)
My Life in Pink (USA)

MPAA:

Rated R for brief strong language.

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

France | Belgium | UK

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:M | Iceland:L | South Korea:All | Philippines:PG-13 | Hong Kong:IIB | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A | Japan:PG-12 | Argentina:13 | Brazil:12 | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | Mexico:B | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:T | Sweden:7 | UK:12 | USA:R | France:U

Company:

Canal+

Goofs:

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

Quotes:

Ludovic Fabre: Mommy, my tummy hurts! It's my period!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "SexTV: The Boy Code... Forming Masculinity/The Descent of Men (#6.3)" (2003)

Soundtrack:

Les rois mages

Charming, Touching--And Surprisingly Subversive

The most obvious way to read MA VIE EN ROSE is as the tale of difficulties faces by a very young boy who is very likely transgenderd--but given the multi-layered nature of the film this is actually a rather narrow point of view. It would be more accurate to describe the film as a rather sly assault on a cookie-cutter society that reacts with a herd mentality toward anything in the least unusual. And Ludovic Fabre is a most unusual child: barely into school, he has become convinced that he is a girl, and in his childhood innocence he sees absolutely nothing socially amiss with the idea.

The film begins with a party at which neighbors gather to welcome the newly arrived Fabre family--only to be, along with the family, extremely disconcerted when Ludovic makes an entrance in meticulously applied make-up and a pink dress. His family passes the incident off as a joke, but Ludovic proves remarkably single-minded, and when he draws a neighborhood child into his fantasies he also incurs neighborhood hysteria. The result is at once comic and unpleasantly vicious as his classmates, his neighbors, and eventually his family gradually turn upon him.

Although there are one or two problems with character development in the script, the cast--particularly Georges du Fresne as Ludovic and Helene Vincent as free-spirit grandmother Elizabeth--is superlative, and director Alain Berliner balances the serio-comic story with a very light touch. Viewers will laugh a little, cry a little, and ultimately come away from the film feeling an uncertain hope. The fact that this film is rated "R" is merely so much more evidence of the power of the herd to dictate standards of normalcy--one or two profanities aside, there is absolutely nothing in the film to offend any intelligent viewer, and the film will hold a special appeal for older children who have been targeted as in any way different by their peers... and for the many adults who remember what it was like to be a victim of a society that prizes conformity over imagination, creativity, honesty, integrity, and self-awareness. Strongly recommended.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer