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...

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Plot Keywords:

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

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

the official trailer

Country:

Canada

Language:

French English German Spanish Polish

Release Date:

3 March 2006 (Italy)

Also Known As:

C.R.A.Z.Y.

Filming Locations:

Essaouira, Morocco

Box Office

Budget:

CAD6,500,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$3,710,169

Company Credits

Production Co:

Téléfilm Canada, Québec Crédit d'Impôt Cinéma et Télévison, Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit (CPTC)

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

Even though the movie's dialogue is in French, for the theatrical release in France, subtitles were added for viewers who couldn't understand Québécois French.

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Goofs

When Raymond drops off Zac in his car (when he asks for a loan), you can see a modern blue car pass on the street behind them.

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Quotes

Zachary Beaulieu 15 à 21 ans: I want to be like everyone else.
Madame Chose: Thank God, you never will.

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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.

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Connections

Referenced in Thanatos, Drunk (2015)

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Soundtracks

10:15 saturday night
Written by Robert Smith
Performed by The Cure

User Reviews

Coming of age & coming out

"C.R.A.Z.Y." is a real gem. It's a wonderful, wonderful movie that totally took me by surprise. I expected something like "Dazed & Confused", something that gives you a nostalgic 70's feeling and shows some young people smoking pot while listening to Led Zeppelin. "C.R.A.Z.Y." is so much more than that. The people in it listen to Pink Floyd! Just kidding, this movie really is something special. As it's telling the story of the main characters it takes us through three different decades, a little like "Forrest Gump" does, showing how fashion and the whole lifestyle changed over the years. The main focus, however, is on a boy called Zach, his coming of age, his ambivalent relationship to his family and the trouble with him and his father accepting that Zach is gay. The story is told so realistically and with so much heart that you really fall in love with those characters, although we don't get to know too much about any of them, except for Zach and his parents. His brothers and the girl next door are always just there without any explanation why they are the way they are. That doesn't really matter, though. One of this movie's big advantages is that it never ever points out more than necessary.

Somehow director/co-author Jean-Marc Vallée knows how to make every scene special. He really gets to the core of his characters. The cast, of course, is awesome, too, without an exception. Both actors that play Zach, Zach's father and mother, his oldest brother... they all turn in great performances.

Some said that "C.R.A.Z.Y." is a little too long. I agree that it seems long and epic, but for once it didn't bother me at all. Not in the way that "Pirates Of The Caribbean 2" or "Spider-Man 2" or "The Matrix: Reloaded" or any damn action sequel of the past 5 years were much too long. Once I was lost in "C.R.A.Z.Y." I didn't want to leave its world anymore, so I'm glad the makers took their time. I even thought the movie ended a bit too quickly.

So, I can only say it again. This is a real gem. A real important movie and - just on a sidenote - maybe the one movie next to "Brokeback Mountain" that shows homosexuality as something completely normal, that's still very hard to deal with for everybody involved. "C.R.A.Z.Y." isn't just about someone coming to terms with his sexual orientation, though. It's mainly about family. About love, understanding and acceptance. It's probably the best coming of age movie I've ever seen.