[.ca] Cage Aux Folles (Widescreen)

From Amazon.com:
A likable 1977 French farce (and the basis for the 1996 American remake, The Birdcage), this popular comedy was one of the most successful international films of all time, and even spawned a Broadway musical and two sequels. It tells the story of a gay couple who--when one man's son from a previous liaison brings home his fiancée--masquerade as husband and wife for their prospective in-laws. The film is saved from becoming an exercise in silliness by the heartfelt characterizations of the gay nightclub owners. La Cage aux Folles is one of the funniest imports from Europe and a great comedy in any venue. --Robert Lane

The Original And Best:
Although The Birdcage (Robin Williams, Nathan Lane) was a likeable and entertaining movie, noting can beat the general sense of fun and style generated in the 1979 French original. Ugo Tognazzi stars as Renato Baldi, the hapless owner of the 'La Cage Aux Folles' nightclub, a dinner-theatre with Drag acts as the stars. Henpecked by the biggest star of all, the fabulous and temperemental Zsa Zsa (Michel Serrault), he attempts one of the biggest performances of his life when he hears his son Laurent is engaged to marry the daughter of Charrier, an ultra right-wing politician. He tries to create a loving, heterosexual family environment to garner the Charrier's approval, and his subsequent and spectacular failure makes for one of the funniest comedies of the 1970's. What's interesting about this movie is that even though it centres on a gay couple running a drag club, there is very little emphasis placed on the drag acts themselves... Zsa Zsa does not perform any long, unnessecary musical numbers. Instead, director Edouard Molinaro focuses on the storyline, and it's here that the movie excels. Strong performances from Tognazzi (Renato), Michel Galabru (M. Charrier), Carmen Scarpita (Charrier's long-suffering wife) and particularly Serrault as the devastatingly annoying Albin drive this movie forward, and the produciton is full of vintage 1970's touches. The score (by Ennino Morricone) is wonderful, and the dramatic strings and 70's-style synthesisers impersonationg 30's-style orchestras create a perfect comedy atmosphere. The fact that this is a french film, too, lends much to the final piece. The sibilant and rapid speech give Zsa Zsa's tantrums wonderful resonance, and Charrier's moralising takes on a whole new level of seriousness. He's more Gene Hackman than Gene Hackman himself. This is a thoroughly recommended movie, even though the DVD quality is not the best (but still fine) and the extras aren't worth mentioning. Get it!

Really so much better...:
...than 'The Birdcage' that if you came here looking to see if someone would tell you straight...someone just did.

Good Movie, but I love the American Version better...:
I am a HUGE fan of 'The Birdcage' and have been for several years, so I finally got a chance to watch 'La Cage Aux Folles', which, as everyone knows, is the French version and the original for the American 'Birdcage'. I have been reading so many reviews here that talk about how much better this one is from the American version. I am going to give an opinion that is not going to be popular. To be honest, I really liked 'The Birdcage' much better than 'La Cage Aux Folles'. Although this is a very good movie, the American version flows so much better. The actors, to me play the characters much better. This version seemed very choppy to me and did not flow very well from one scene to another. I will say Ugo Tognazzi and Michel Serrault did a marvelous job playing their characters. I can see why the movie was so extremely popular and still is today, as well as 'The Birdcage'. I did enjoy watching this film, and watching the obvious similarities between this one and the newer version. Everyone is allowed their opinions, and Although I liked 'The Birdcage' version much better (as I love the over the top performances of Robin Williams, and Nathan Lane', I still HIGHLY recommend watching this movie.

FRENCH COMEDY:
This is hysterically funny. I loved it and you would too.

Absolutely Fabulous!!!!:
La Cage Aux Folles is a hilarious French farce that spawned two sequels, a Broadway musical, and an equally good, but almost scene for scene remake (The Birdcage). Some people have said the film has stereotyped gay characters and that Serrault's constant screaming is annoying. I disagree--I found nothing offensive about the characters (gay men like Serrault exist, we've all met them!) and his screaming is actually very funny and brilliantly duplicated by Nathan Lane in the remake. This is a great film, funny, touching, and simply wonderful. It was nominated for 3 Academy Awards and won the Golden Globe for best Foriegn Film. How many gay-themed films can you say that about? P.S. Please ignore the R rating--the subject matter, which was pretty risky for 1978, has gotten rather tame. By today's standards, the film would easily get a PG-13.