C.R.A.Z.Y was directed and co-written (with François Boulay) by Jean-Marc Vallée. The film won many international awards including a genie award for best picture and many jury/audience choice award's.
This film is about a young boy called Zac, who is the second youngest among four other brothers. His parent keep having boy's because of his fathers "more than normal-level male hormones" (according to his very proud father!) We can sense very early on in the film that Zac is a homosexual. Zac has one brother in particular who is his 'enemy', Raymond. They hate each other, Raymond is always tormenting Zac by calling him a 'fag'.
The film is really about Zac's struggle to be who he wants to be and to please the people around him. He was born on Christmas day and so his mother believes he has special gifts from God. They are a very Catholic family and because his birthday is on christmas he spends most of it every year bored in mass, longing to go home and open his presents.
Zac is a modern day christ like figure who seemingly is able to heal the sick and possesses special gifts from God. He has a very special bond with his mother, who completely accepts him and loves him no matter what. It's really lovely to watch on screen.I thought the performances in this film were great. There was real chemistry between all the characters. Marc-André Grondin, who plays Zac when he's a teenager was a perfect casting choice. He is extremely good looking and plays Zac when he has major conflicts between his emerging sexuality and the constant stress of trying to please his father by being who he wants him to be. Its a really touching story and I thought the screenplay was really excellent, as the church is against homosexuality I thought it was very fitting to have Zac born on Christmas day as a 'gift from God', this was very ironic and perfect for the story! Their is a very touching core to the film in that Zac just loves his father, he hides who he is for him, he sacrifices everything. His love for his father is so strong that he decides to live a lie to please him, he agrees to go out with the girl next door and keep his true feelings hidden. Richard always asks how our scripts show the 'human condition', it's this aspect that will let the audience experience the emotional journey of your protagonist. I felt that C.R.A.Z.Y was almost a document of the human condition with all it's flaws and wonder. The film is ultimately about being true to yourself, accepting your true nature, and the strange way humans show love sometimes.
His father actually loves him very much, we can see that through the performance. One of the film's main themes is the influence of the Catholic Church in Québec society during the Revolution. It's the Catholic Church that has instilled these hateful ideals into society. what I really loved about this film was that at the end his father saw the error of his ways and knew that he has to stand by his son no matter what society or religion tells you to do. This made the ending very rewarding to watch, it was again very touching as love conquered all the ignorant beliefs and came through for him at the end. Which as an audience member made me feel very relieved and hopeful as I always do when people stand by their fellow man instead of constantly fighting against them. If they just accepted him for who he was then there would have been no suffering, unfortunately most people always seem blind to what's truly important in life.
I was gripped throughout the film and I thought it was full of relevant issues even in today's culture (it's set in the 60's.) It feels timeless because issues of sexuality and oppression of society and religion will always be around. This subject matter was perfectly balanced by the tone which was very indie and cool! Music was a big part of the film and a great devise used to show the culture and the rise of revolution. You could feel the energy rising all the time as the film progressed which was exciting.
Pierre Mignot's cinematography was beautiful, it reminded me of a much grittier Amelie! He used a similar colour palette, but as the nature of this story takes some darker turns, Mignot shows these scenes in a very contrasting light.I really enjoyed this film and would really recommend it! If not for it's cinematic style and entertaining characters then for it's tribute to pop culture in the 70's!
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