Stars: Ugo Tognazzi, Michel Serrault, Michel Galabru, Claire Maurier, Remi Laurent

Director: Edouard Molinaro

Summary: A young man has problems when his girlfriend's cabinet minister father wants to meet his father, who is homosexual. French dialogue.

In this giddy French comedy, a young man is about to get married, which means that his "parents"--gay nightclub owner Renato (Ugo Tognazzi) and effeminate transvestite Zaza (Michel Serrault)--must meet his pompous and conservative in-laws. For the sake of their son, the gay couple decide not only to act straight, but to pose as husband and wife. On the night of the party however, insanity reigns when "mom" and "dad" fail to adhere to the "straight" and narrow. The film led to a series of sequels and an American remake in 1996.

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In the French farce La Cage aux Folles, Ugo Tognazzi and Michel Serrault star as Renato and Albin, a middle-aged gay couple and co-owners of a nightclub, the titular Cage aux Folles, where hysterically effeminate Albin stars as drag act Zaza. The long-suffering Renato once briefly enjoyed a heterosexual relationship and has a 20-year-old son, Laurent. When the latter turns up one day and announces he is to marry the daughter of one M Charrier, deputy leader of the Moral Order party, Renato is initially appalled. However, he comes round and reluctantly agrees to a meeting with the girl's parents, in which he will pose as a high-ranking diplomat, rid the apartment of all its queenly trappings and try to persuade Albin to lie low. The final 20 minutes of the movie, in which this charade of austerity and propriety falls entirely to pieces are among the most aisle-rollingly uproarious ever committed to celluloid.

It was remade by Hollywood as The Birdcage, but this original is far funnier. Although perhaps a little dated and stereotypical in its depiction of gay life there is real sympathy for, and affection conveyed between, Renato and Albin. The scenes with the Charrier family, who, it turns out, have problems of their own, cut an utterly gloomy bourgeois contrast with the screaming flamboyance of the nightclub scenes. The Charrier's unscrupulous chauffeur is one of the film's many treasures, his final "Combien?" provoking the film's crowning guffaw. All this iced with a delicious soundtrack from Ennio Morricone which wafts with the nostalgic scent of late-1970s South of France.

On the DVD:La Cage aux Follesis unfortunately presented in a not terribly good 1:66:1 transfer: much of the crackle and faded colours of the original remain, while the soundtrack is fuzzy in places. The only extra is the original trailer. --David Stubbs

Aspect Ratio:	1.66 Wide Screen
Main Language:	French
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Original Theatrical Trailer, Interactive Menu Screens, Chapter Search
Subtitles:	Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish
Year:	1979
Release Date:	July 1, 2002
Runtime:	87 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	16353 D V D
Keywords:	Subtitled, Comedy, Cage, Birds, Feather, Aux, Folles, General, French, Dubbed, La
Genre:	Comedy