To suggest that the flaccid genre known as the domestic drama could best
big budget behemoths like Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and
Batman Begins in a bare-knuckled, knock-down, drag-out box-office battle is
indeed a crazy proposition. Yet, Director Jean-Marc Vallée's aptly titled
breakout hit, C.R.A.Z.Y., achieved just that last summer in Quebec where it
was conceived, written, and shot.
This modest film became a sleeper hit in la Belle Province, and slowly
but sure-footedly gained momentum, spreading its madness across
English-speaking Canada - a feat not seen since Denys Arcand's Les invasions
barbares (The Barbarian Invasions). C.R.A.Z.Y went on to infect audiences
at film festivals from Toronto to Venice and Los Angeles to Marrakech before
cleaning up at the Genies - (Canada's equivalent to the Academy Awards)
winning 11 of the 12 categories in which it was nominated.
Now, C.R.A.Z.Y.
has set its sights on the international market, and Director Jean Marc
Vallée, is confident that his story will have an impact felt around the
globe. Developed over a 10 year period by Vallée and his writing partner,
François Boulay, C.R.A.Z.Y is the acronym which stands for the five boys of
an ordinary Montreal family - the Beaulieu's - Christian, Raymond, Antoine,
Zachary and Yvan, and their father Gervais' love for Patsy Cline.
The story revolves around the second youngest son in the family,
Zachary. Born on 25th December 1960, Zac's slavishly pious mother believes
her Christmas baby has been touched by God and blessed with the power to
heal. Newcomer Marc-André Grondin turns in a super-charged performance as a
teenaged Zac struggling to come to terms with his sexual identity and the
desire to be normal amidst four rough and tumble brothers.
The story revolves around Zac finding his way amongst his deeply
conservative family, yet Vallée insists his film is not a coming out story,
but rather a coming of age story for anyone who's ever felt like an
outsider. Although the angst-coated teen's road to self-discovery is a
moribund theme at best, Vallée bends the genre by infusing it with a
high-octane dose of powerhouse anthems. In so doing, Vallée casts Bowie, The
Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd as characters within his tumultuous tale - with Zac
disavowing the Church and his strict French Catholic upbringing by turning
his back on religion and choosing song over prayer.
Vallée has managed to wrap the deeply personal in the embrace of the
universally significant, and with heaps of critical praise and awards,
audiences have put their faith squarely in C.R.A.Z.Y. and its extraordinary
portrait of an ordinary family.
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