C.R.A.Z.Y. (2005)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Jean-Marc Vallée

Writers:

François Boulay (writer)
Jean-Marc Vallée (writer)

Release Date:

3 March 2006 (Italy)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

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

Plot:

C.R.A.Z.Y. Extraordinary lives of ordinary people in search of love and happiness - that's the premise of "C.R.A.Z.Y", a family drama unlike any other.

Plot Keywords:

1960s | Hit By Car | Christmas | Wedding | Bed Wetting

Awards:

37 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

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

Also Known As:

C.R.A.Z.Y. (UK) (USA)
Crazy (International: English title) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

Canada:127 min (Québec) | Argentina:127 min (Mar del Plata Film Festival)

Country:

Canada

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

UK:15 | Argentina:16 | Ireland:16 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Singapore:M18 | Germany:12 | Hungary:14 | Finland:K-11 | Italy:T | Netherlands:12 | Canada:18A (Ontario) | Sweden:11 | Australia:MA | Norway:15 | South Korea:15 | Norway:10 (TV rating) | Canada:13+ (Québec)

Filming Locations:

Essaouira, Morocco

Company:

Cirrus Communications

Trivia:

Acquiring the music rights took such an important part of the budget, director and producer Jean-Marc Vallée had to cut his own salary.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Just after hearing Pink Floyd's "Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Part One)" and the Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil", we see several music albums, and among them is Pink Floyd's "Animals". The scene is supposed to be occurring in 1975, and "Animals" was released in 1977.

Quotes:

Prêtre: Stop the singing! Ok, the midnight mass is too long, lets finish it now. Everybody go home and unwrap your presents.
[Everybody cheers]

Soundtrack:

Crazy

Best Quebec movie ever? I'd say so!

To say it bluntly, it is to my advice the best Quebec movie ever made, and from a more global perspective a very good movie no matter what you choose to compare it to.

It is a story about a young homosexual (although it isn't clearly stated in the film, and it probably would be closer to the truth to say he's bisexual), born in the 60's. We see him evolving through the next three decades, with all the difficulties one might see in having troubles with sexual orientation in theses years (among which the perception of other people of his age, questions about himself because of the taboo nature of the topic, problems having it accepted by parents and so on).

There's many things that make me to say it's the best Quebec-made movie ever. First of all, it's actually quite different from anything else to come from Quebec, as far as I can think of it. This is quite surprising, since almost all the action takes place in this province. It's far more dramatic and emotional than anything else before (maybe saved Sur le Seuil which was more tragic). Besides, Quebec has always produced a lot of humor-oriented movies (les Boys, Quebec-Montreal, etc), which do have some charm but also feel like they have all been made out of the same recipe, Quebec humor being one of a kind. It's also successful in not falling into traditional clichés of Quebec society in a given period of time (a thing that Séraphin, for example, failed to do), but at the same time depicting quite accurately what life was like at the time. It's also successful in incorporating a very diversified soundtrack, using both songs from Quebec and American cultures. That lacked in many films, although in reality you actually get both pretty much equally. To be able to recognize this and deal with it is worth being recognized. The casting is also pretty strong, in part because of the performances of the actors but also because there are some new faces in it. Another annoying tendency in movies made in Quebec is that often see the same faces over and over again.

If you put it in a larger frame, it is still a must see that I believe will get it's fair share of attention and prices outside the province. That's a thing that the Invasions Barbares did, but other than that it's hard to think of much more. The song track, besides being very good, is also brilliantly used. For example, the music Zac listens to is very representative of theses decades (you get Pink Floyd, David Bowie) and evolves with the character, and is also used to create some insides between the characters (like Hier encore j'avais 20 ans, that is sung every Christmas). The three main antagonists in the movie (Zac, his brother Raymond and his father) have developed relationships with each other that are by no mean static, and in fact no even always antagonistic. Even though the story is told from Zac's perspective, he's far from flawless, as all the other characters, except maybe for the mother, who's more than often the neutral, moderated one in the many conflicts that arise. Some dialogs are actually quite funny (like the one about sodomy between Zac's father and his wife, in which Michel Côté shows he's a damn good actor).

Finally, I would say that the movie is also successful in not using easy clichés when it comes to homosexuality. Many movies got fucked up when it came to that topic, but this one doesn't. As I said before, Zac is supposedly homosexual, although it's never clearly stated and he might also just be bisexual. You don't get any real dirty stuff. The conservatives point of view on the matter are mentioned (by his fathers, among others), but aren't overwhelmingly present either. The movie is well-balanced.