Three cheers to Kingston Canadian Film Festival for celebrating the life and achievements of Jean-Marc Vallée (1963 -2021), by including his remarkable 2005 production of C.R.A.Z.Y. in this year’s line-up.
Along with co-writer François Boulay, the decidedly queer coming of age drama of Zac (Émile Vallée until 8; Marc-André Grondin thereafter) is as compelling now (even as the different amongst us are legislated against in such states as Florida) as it was almost two decades ago.
Magically born on December 25, 1959 (so very Trudeau), Zac nearly dies in birth only to have a second brush with death years later running a light. Surely his luck is blessed (but not in the Catholic Church) though not by his dad, (Michel Côté doing yeoman’s service as Gervais Beaulieu, a man who’s had “just a couple” of penetrations himself, but can’t abide the thought of his cherubic son being an unabashed fairy).
Trying to hold the all-boy family together is Danielle Proulx who gives the most convincing performance of the lot as Beaulieu’s stoic wife, Laurianne. Many burgeoning gay men have opted for the quick release of suicide without at least one parent who accepts them as they are. Characters such as hers have saved more troubled lives than they know.
Elder sibling Raymond (Pierre-Luc Brilliant) scorns his queer bother, revels in easy women, drugs and booze before succumbing to a fate that can be predicted from his first appearance.
Vallée has done a masterful job of drawing out memorable performances from his young cast that speak volumes about bigotry, internal loathing and pathetic, violent outbreaks. As such, it’s a masterpiece of understanding the perils of wanting to be one’s self amidst an (apparently) straight-up family, a “loving” church and the, in this instance, haunting lyrics of Patsy Cline’s hit, “Crazy”.
This film ought to be required viewing for the growing number of ignorant Republican leaders who believe that they can legislate away those who have the courage to be themselves all the way to electoral victories. The next thing you know, Russia’s Commander-in-Thief might confirm that more lives lost in his quest for complete domination are but mere trifles on the way to divine greatness. JWR