by Robert Alstead

Zac is a sensitive young boy from a large, Catholic, Quebecois family in the late ‘60s. As his mom, guided by the mystic Tupperware lady explains, he is “different,” with a gift for healing people’s burns by thinking about them.
Zac is uncomfortable with the fact that he doesn’t like normal boys’ stuff, and feels constantly put upon by his three elder brothers. At Christmas, which also happens to be his birthday, he wants a pram, but his dad insists on buying him a hockey game. Although mom objects, dad gets his way. More than anything else, Zac wants to be accepted by his doting, but gruff, dad. At night, Zac prays to God that he doesn’t turn into a “fairy,” but his feelings refuse to go away.
This may not sound like the premise for a box office smash, but CRAZY has proved to be one of the most successful films ever at Quebec box offices. It’s also Canada’s entry for the Oscars in the foreign film category, the shortlist for which comes out next month.
The story is as much about looking for paternal acceptance, as it is about the sexual confusion of a boy turning into a man, which probably explains the film’s wide appeal. Director Jean-Marc Vallée, who cast his own son in the role of Zac from six to eight years old, and good-looking groovester Marc-André Grondin as the 15 to 21-year-old Zac, is careful not to screen anything that would turn off mainstream audiences. At the same time, this is a film that offers emotional depth, humour, and an intelligent exploration of its subject.
Vallée uses insinuation and creates mood with ease, his experience as a commercial filmmaker evident in the film’s stylish and inventive imagery. The tone of the film is varied, from amusing sketches of family life to scenes delving Zac’s inner angst, where Vallée’s heavy use of Catholic iconography and myth can seem over-portentous. Nevertheless, the pervasive RC mysticism adds to the flagrant Quebecois flavour during this flared-trousered, chain-smoking era, spanning the ‘60s, ‘70s, and early ‘80s. Soundtrack classics, such as David Bowie’s Space Odyssey, the Rolling Stones’ Sympathy for the Devil, and Patsy Cline’s pivotal Crazy (the title is also an acronym for the five siblings) add an extra layer of nostalgia.
CRAZY has a fine ensemble cast, with Michel Côté perfect as the ebullient dad, whose paternal love is tempered by his failure to acknowledge his son’s feelings. He has good on-screen chemistry with both of the actors who play the sons. Danielle Proulx, as the mother who indulges her son when dad isn’t looking, grows in stature throughout, and Alex Gravel is memorable as the leather-trousered, “waster” brother Raymond.
At 129 minutes, the film is too long – maybe the dad shouldn’t have been allowed to do his stock party piece, singing along to Charles Aznavour so often – but not drastically long. All the ingredients are here to keep you hooked until the haunting, bittersweet resolution.
Two other new films that I haven’t yet seen, but which are getting good reviews on the film festival circuit, are similarly themed. Brokeback Mountain (23rd), the new film by Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, The Ice Storm), explores the forbidden love between two cowboys (played by Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal). The film, which has been dubbed a gay Gone With the Wind, shows how the men’s friendship unexpectedly turns into something intensely sexual, during their stint as sheep herders in the solitary wilds of Brokeback Mountain. (The film was shot in Alberta.) Lee focuses on the irreconcilable damage that the two men cause, both to themselves and the people in their lives, by pursuing a double-life of raising a family, while continuing their secret affair.
Breakfast on Pluto is another period gay drama opening this month on the 16th. Set against the backdrop of the troubles in Northern Ireland in the ‘70s, the film, directed by Neil Jordan (The Crying Game), follows Patrick “Kitten” Braden (Cillian Murphy), a deprived, but spirited, Irish youth turned transvestite-prostitute, who hits the road to London in search of his mother. The film is both tragic and comic in tone, featuring a nostalgic, pop soundtrack, high camp, and Liam Neeson as a Catholic priest.
Finally, if you missed the screening of the GMO doc The Future of Food by California-based Deborah Koons Garcia, you can get the double-disc DVD at www.futureoffood.com this month..

Robert Alstead, who also writes for iofilm, is currently making a documentary about cycling called You Never Bike Alone.