C.R.A.Z.Y. (2005)

A young French-Canadian, growing up in the 1960s and 1970s, struggles to reconcile his emerging homosexuality with his father's conservative values and his own Catholic beliefs.

Director:

Jean-Marc Vallée

Writers:

François Boulay, Jean-Marc Vallée

Stars:

Michel Côté, Marc-André Grondin, Danielle Proulx

38 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michel Côté	...	Gervais Beaulieu
Marc-André Grondin	...	Zachary Beaulieu 15 à 21 ans
Danielle Proulx	...	Laurianne Beaulieu
Émile Vallée	...	Zachary Beaulieu 6 à 8 ans
Pierre-Luc Brillant	...	Raymond Beaulieu 22 à 28 ans
Maxime Tremblay	...	Christian Beaulieu 24 à 30 ans
Alex Gravel	...	Antoine Beaulieu 21 à 27 ans
Natasha Thompson	...	Michelle 15 à 22 ans
Johanne Lebrun	...	Doris
Mariloup Wolfe	...	Brigitte 15 à 20 ans
Francis Ducharme	...	Paul
Hélène Grégoire	...	Madame Chose
Michel Laperrière	...	Psychothérapeute
Jean-Louis Roux	...	Prêtre
Mohamed Majd	...	Bédouin

Storyline

Born Christmas Day 1960, Zac Beaulieu is the fourth of five sons of Gervais and Laurianne Beaulieu. Zac feels somewhat disconnected to his brothers, all of whom are different from each other. They include the bookworm Christian who is the eldest, the dumb jock Antoine who is third, and the youngest Yvan. But Zac has the most contempt for his second eldest brother, the shiftless druggie Raymond. To his devout Catholic mother, Zac is her miracle son, both for being born the same day as Jesus Christ (a fact which Zac has always hated), and because a Tupperware-selling mystic once told her that he has the power to heal. Laurianne has always coddled Zac, the two who have a special if unspoken bond. But Zac wants more to please his father, who wants more than anything in his sons that they grow up to be man's men and not sissies. As Zac goes through his mid-teens to early twenties, Zac isn't sure if he can live up to the ideals of either his mother or especially his father. A young man with...

---

Plot Keywords:

punctuation in title | gay brother | closeted homosexual | death by overdose | drug overdose | 

---

Taglines:

Growing up in this family, you'd have to be... C.R.A.Z.Y.

---

Genres:

Comedy | Drama

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Canada

Language:

French English German Spanish Polish

Release Date:

3 May 2006 (France)

Also Known As:

C.R.A.Z.Y.

Filming Locations:

Essaouira, Morocco

Box Office

Budget:

CAD 6,500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Téléfilm Canada, Québec Crédit d'Impôt Cinéma et Télévison, Government of Canada - Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit Program

Technical Specs

Runtime:

127 min (Québec) 127 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Black and White (flashback scenes) Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was the official Canadian entry for the "Best Foreign Language Film" category at the 2005 Academy Awards, but it did not end up as one of the five foreign language films to be nominated.

---

Goofs

The bus station has the post-2000 logo of the Egged bus company.

---

Quotes

Christian Beaulieu 24 à 30 ans: [laughing at Antoine's hockey fight] You got beaten up by Tremblay's little fag.
Antoine Beaulieu 21 à 27 ans: What, you four-eye fag?

---

Crazy Credits

The end titles finish showing the first names of the five sons in capital letters in the order of birth: Christian . Raymond . Antoine . Zacharie . Yvan . Then all the letters dissolve, with the exception of each first letters, thus creating (and explaining) the title of the film: C.R.A.Z.Y.

---

Connections

Referenced in The Rep (2012)

---

Soundtracks

Jingle Bells
Traditional
Written by James Pierpont
Arranged by Jean-Christian Arod
Performed by Jean-Marc Vallée
Chorus by Genevieve Hebert, Kim Picard, Martin Pinsooault

User Reviews

Storytelling embodied!

I had the opportunity to watch this film at the Miami International Film Festival, and I am VERY glad I took up on it! This is what storytelling is all about. Jean-Marc Vallée takes this beautiful story, which is a mix of fiction and reality, and beautifully executes it on film. It's a story that feels realistic, and I was very pleased to see that it's not regionalistic to the point of not being able to be comprehended by others. I thought the acting was amazing and certainly the strong performances bring such a life and realism to the characters that it helps to truly elevate the story, which is really the key to this film. I think especially brilliant were Michel Côté, Marc-André Grondin, Emile Vallée, Danielle Proulx, and Pierre-Luc Brilliant (not to leave anyone out as everyone really shines in their roles, it's just that these to me were the strongest performances of the lot). The choices of music were excellently made and the melding of effects in this film is well done to assist the telling of the story. If you like story-centric films, this is one of the strongest I've ever seen. It has a little of everything: humour, realism, sadness, etc. It's a movie about real life, and while it does have it's surreal moments, it stays true to being about real life.