Evento

La Cage aux Folles @ Robert Classic French Film Festival

Sunday, March 13, 4 p.m.
La Cage aux Folles
Edouard Molinaro, 1978, 96 min., color, Blu-ray projection source

Renato (Ugo Tognazzi) and Albin (Michel Serrault) -- a middle-aged gay couple who are the manager and star performer at a glitzy drag club in Saint-Tropez -- agree to hide their sexual identities, along with their flamboyant personalities and home decor, when the ultraconservative parents of Renato's son's fiancée come for a visit. This elegant comic scenario kicks off a wild and warmhearted French farce about the importance of nonconformity and being true to oneself. A breakout art-house smash in America, Edouard Molinaro's "La Cage aux Folles" inspired a major Broadway musical and the blockbuster remake "The Birdcage." But with its hilarious performances and ahead-of-its-time social message, there's nothing like the audacious, dazzling original movie.

Describing "La Cage aux Folles" as "basically the first sitcom in drag," the late, great Roger Ebert hailed the film: "The comic turns in the plot are achieved with such clockwork timing that sometimes we're laughing at what's funny and sometimes we're just laughing at the movie's sheer comic invention. This is a great time at the movies." Writing in 2015, Slant Magazine says that the film has lost none of its comedic power: "'La Cage aux Folles' remains rambunctious and capable of drawing blood. Though its politics are still quite progressive, 'La Cage aux Folles' is ultimately a work of classicism, crafted with precision and efficiently paced."

With an introduction and post-film discussion by Cate Marquis, film critic for the St. Louis Jewish Light and co-founder of the St. Louis Film Critics professional association.

Sponsored by Jane M. & Bruce P. Robert Charitable Foundation