GROWING PAINS OF A QUEER KIND : "MA VIE EN ROSE"

As far as queer films go, this is just about as queer as it gets folks. Because not only is it definitely a part of “queer” cinema, it is “queer” in the sense of peculiar as well. It’ peculiarity stems principally from its subject matter, it broaches a topic that is particularly difficult to talk about: the sexuality of children. In day to day life, children are largely considered completely a-sexual. While the innocence of the young is not up for discussion here, it is also without a doubt that children do have sexual instincts and feelings, just not activated yet. And sometimes, these instincts manifest themselves, confusing everyone around and the child as well. So what does happen if you have a little one in the family that is “not quite like the rest”?
The Fabre family has just taken a very great leap. Mr. Fabre has just changed jobs, accepting a high ranking position in a company. This has allowed him and his family to move to an affluent suburb of Paris, a “nice” house with “nice” neighbors; it is an exciting time for everyone. The Fabres are a delightful couple with four lovely children as far as the neighbors are concerned. But there is, shall we say, a small quirk. Their youngest, and seven year-old son Ludovic, insists on dressing up as a girl. The family try and pay no heed to it at first, but when Ludovic shows interest in the neighbors son Jerôme, insists on taking his “Pam and Ben” dolls to the show and tell at school and explaining to everyone who will listen that his second x chromosome has been mislaid but that God will send him another one so he can become a girl and marry Jerôme, the neighbors start to give them funny looks. The Fabres now face a tough decision. Will they support their son in his quest for self-discovery or quash the quest for fear of what the neighbors will say?
Most of this film is absolutely brilliant. It gives a brilliant portrait of all the societal pressure placed on gay identities. Especially in the suburbs and similar small communities “what will the neighbors think?” is less of a rhetorical question and more a matter of life or death, especially if one of those neighbors just happen to be your boss. Parents love their children and want what is best for them, but how easy is it to accept that what you consider “best” for them may in fact not be best for them after all? Although these questions are posed and discussed in the harshest manner possible, the film then turns around and does something rather peculiar. It wraps up rather suddenly, throwing in a couple of huge coincidences and with a very, very ambiguous finale indeed. All I can think of as an explanation is that the director stopped and looked back at his work, lost courage, and without pursuing the story to its natural, and possibly grittier end, made it a bit easier to stomach for the general public. And the film – originally a Belgian film – won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film, so Alan Berliner, the director, seems to have gaged the public pulse right at least… However, with growing globalization and with more and more films and artists elbowing each other for their own five – or hopefully more – minutes of fame, this is precisely what we see. Less of a tendency to ask the really tough questions and more of a leaning towards “palatable” films; popularity is all after all; if not in the terms of ego a popular film guarantees funding and possibly fame and fortune. It’s really a shame about the end of Ma Vie En Rose, but the remaining two thirds are just so good that it is definitely worth your attention…

DOES LOVE CONQUER ALL ? "BREAKFAST ON PLUTO"

You have, undoubtedly, heard of Neil Jordan, director of such classics as “The Crying Game” and “The End Of The Affair”. Breakfast on Pluto was another one of his major classics. Was nominated for a Golden Globes and everything. Cillian Murphy was absolutely stellar as the leading actor. And the film is, I have to admit, pretty darn awesome on a lot of counts. I have a bit of a bad taste at the back of my mouth, in that I sense a goodly dollop of unused potential going on here, but we’ll get to that in a second. Let’s get on with the story first.
Patrick “Kitten” Brady was born and grew up in a small Irish town in the ‘70s. He does not fit in to his rather traditional surroundings on a number of counts, not less because, in the words of Ed Wood, “he likes wearing women’s clothes”. Unlike Ed Wood however, he is transsexual – as opposed to just a cross-dresser - and this is rarely well accepted in small villages as you have probably worked out for yourselves. To add to his already considerable troubles, Patrick is an orphan. His mother left for London a long while ago and never came back, “swallowed up by the town”. And one day, Patrick gets sick of the continual hurdles his life has thrown at him and decides to go London – the big city – find his mother and start again from scratch. And of course, like a lot of people who travel to London to make their fortunes, things do NOT go according to plan. Love, adventures and some danger all combine and invite us all on a surreal and heart-warming adventure.
I loved this movie. But the thing is, I have both good and bad things to say about it. My main problem with it is this : There are a lot of films, in fact I am pretty sure film theory will have called them a “genre” and given them a name by now, that portray original, misunderstood, sassy characters overcoming difficulties and dealing with small-mindedness with the flick of a wrist (basically). While this can be a realistic portrayal, I have found in time that dealing with small-mindedness is a bit tougher than that. At the very least it takes one heck of a lot out of you. So if not really well done – and if they show no weakness at all – characters like Patrick (or Kitten as he prefers to be called in the film) end up looking a tad unrealistic. That is sort of – sort of mind you – the feeling I got with this film. I mean yes, Kitten suffers, bad things happen and he doesn’t make all the right decisions and doesn’t cope with the whole thing ideally all the time, and yet… Yet it’s a little, just a little too bouncy. A lot of people in that kind of situation get good at hiding their emotions, and maybe director Neil Jordan was playing on that. And it has to be admitted the performance of Cillian Murphy as Kitten is nothing short of outstanding so maybe that was what it was but… I mean I don’t know. A bit too subtle. A tad unrealistic. But good fun. I mean, I preferred the Crying Game myself, but this is a nice, fun movie that will give you a good couple of giggles of an evening. And possibly make you think a bit too. I mean, I feel the need to add, this film tends to aim to amuse rather than to make you think or feel anything of any great depth, but naturally, if you know where to look, you shall find as well…