in the arts
from June 2006

Films with a major gay theme offer opportunities for an audience to hold a mirror up to their own lives and the chance for reflection on a queer life. C.R.A.Z.Y. is a French Canadian tale about growing up gay in 1980s Quebec.

The story focuses on Zach [played by the distinctly dishy Marc-Andre Girodin- he of the flawless complexion]. He is the fourth of five sons, credited with psychic healing powers. The film is a chronological narrative from a traumatic birth to his twenties when he finds a partner to bring home. Zach has a close bond with his devoutly Catholic mother who nurtures his sensitivity in opposition to his father who wants a distinctly more masculine son. The other brothers exude testosterone - all motor bikes and sport. There is little evidence of homophobic bullying at school but plenty of verbal abuse at home. Zach faces all the usual anguish and confusion about coming out - he has an on/off relationship with a female cousin, reads gay porn, wears mascara in homage to Ziggy Stardust but generally plays it cool. The film constantly makes a connection between Zach and a Christ-like persona as he goes through his own form of suffering, seeking to save others via his powers to stop bleeding with a word over the phone. The family is quite dysfunctional with Zach’s eldest brother dying in squalor from a drug overdose. United by their grief, the family come together and seem at last to accept Zach’s sexuality. But it takes another ten years for his emotionally inarticulate father to welcome his partner.

Coming out is a slow and potentially painful process in suburbia. C.R.A.Z.Y doesn’t tell us anything about the problems we didn’t know before. In a sense, Zach is more fortunate than many young gays - he doesn’t get thrown out or beaten up. So why go and see this film?

Well, it’s a story with strongly-depicted and well-acted characters. Squabbling families are always fascinating. Our hero is a cool, ironic personality with little self pity. Patsy Cline and glam rock provide the musical background. Zach’s father collects all Patsy’s records as a devoted fan. There is well chosen sense of period authenticity in the rather quirky setting of Quebec. A positive message that the process of coming out works out alright in the end although it certainly does help if you are a self confident, good looker with brothers who can beat up the opposition. Even the Catholic Church is not demonized - Zach’s mother is essentially a good person. Not too much is mentioned about the healing powers except for a couple of examples though. We all need families for support when things get bad.

In Time to Leave, things couldn’t get tougher for Romain (above) - a talented fashion photographer in Paris , living the fast track life style with his boyfriend Sasha. He is diagnosed with a malignant tumour with a limited time to live. Initially he reacts by with drawing from social contacts, finding it impossible to tell colleagues, Sasha or his parents about his condition. The only person he confides in his grandmother - played magnificently by Jeanne Moreau. Romain is uptight, prickly and selfish who hates children and shows no sympathy for his sister’s marital problems.

The film shows how gradually Romain mellows in the face of his impending death. He takes photos of familiar places from childhood as he connects with the past before facing the future. He is persuaded to impregnate a waitress, met by chance in a roadside café whose husband is sterile. He makes this unborn child his sole beneficiary. He tries to make amends with Sasha after he throws him out and uses his contacts to get him another job. He does make peace with his sister. Towards the end of the film he visits a Normandy sea-side resort, sunbathing and eating ice cream - seemingly content. And here it ends.

Coping with terminal illness raises such a lot of important issues but we don’t see Romain incapacitated or pleading for an assisted release from pain. This is a muted, very French film full of cinematic symbolism- a bouquet of flowers given by his grandmother withers, the beach scene fades into eventide. Romain is a brooding, bearded soul. Given a few months to live, how would we spend the time: a wildly hedonistic splurge, alcohol fueled frenzy, exotic holidays, endless tears or shagging? Romain is too cool for expressing his emotions outwardly but there is anguish within. It is by its very nature a profoundly sentimental film but it is not histrionic. The subtlety of the film lies in the fact that this is not a movie about the consequences of an AIDS-induced life style. No one seems much bothered that Romain is gay although it might have been a different matter had he been living in a downtown immigrant ghetto away from his trendy city centre editorial office.

Why go and see this film? Well, it’s certainly not for ‘entertainment’, but it is not a self-pitying weepie. Sometimes we just have to reflect on some of the big issues we can’t avoid. We can admire Romain’s composure and his essentially positive journey along memory lane. But does either film represent the normality of being gay? Make your own mind up by going to see both.

Nick Tyldesley