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:

CAD 6,500,000 (estimated)

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

Based on co-writer François Boulay's memories of growing up.

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Goofs

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.

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Quotes

Gervais Beaulieu: [about gay people] You've got to be sick to keep your penis in someone else's ass!
Laurianne Beaulieu: [pause] Hmm... You have bad memory.
Gervais Beaulieu: [pause] Well... that was different...

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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 The Rep (2012)

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Soundtracks

Why Can't We Live Together
Written and Performed by Timmy Thomas

User Reviews

An impressive film. period

As it has been said by others, this by all standards, not just as far French Canadian movies go, is a good movie. As somebody who grew up in Québec City I really appreciated how this movie really shows an intimate portrait of Quebec culture with all of its contradictions and beauty.

It showed how being an island of French in a sea of English does have an effect but that there is a definite Québecois culture which definitely bleeds into and mixes in with pop culture. For example the main character a young boy who is deeply conflicted with his sexuality is told he has the ability to heal people just by thinking of them if they are hurt...something which is uniquely Quebecois "old wives tale" The movie spans 2 decades or so, and the recreation of those decades from the house decor, to the music is really well done. The sound track shows in equal weights great Quebec classics along side such rock legends of the time of Pink Floyd and David Bowie.

The movie is great not because of a complicated twisty plot but rather really well acted and created characters. A very touching portrait of family life that can be appreciated not by just someone from that culture but supersedes cultural boundaries.