Customer Reviews

La Cage Aux Folles [VHS]

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

American audiences tend to resist foreign films for some good reasons. Sure, its tough to keep up with subtitles at times, and yes, sometimes the translations are lacking the depth the filmaker intends to convey. But this is a film that can and should be enshrined in the Movie Hall of Fame as one of the funniest, most endearing films ever released. Audiences who are willing to put up with subtitles will quickly find themselves hysterical and at last, on DVD, "La Cage Aux Folles" deserves to find a new audience, a new generation that appreciates broad humor, with a few good lessons thrown in.

Americans are familiar with the story, since "La Cage" was turned into a successful Broadway show and then a huge money-making comedy "The Birdcage" featuring Nathan Lane and Robin Williams in the lead roles (not to mention a young Calista Flockhart of "Ally McBeal" fame and Dan Futterman who is brilliant in "Urbania.") But "The Birdcage" as funny as it can be, fades by comparison to the original, with star making performances by Ugo Tognazzi and Michel Serrault as the leading cross dressing couple of the French Riviera. Where "The Birdcage" allows for broad humor that both confronts and appeases the typical homophobic US audience, "La Cage" offers no apologies, and rests on its own merits as a farce without limits. When Tognazzi teaches Serrault how to "walk like John Wayne" you quickly forget the language barrier, and give up on Robin William's own attempts to educate the shrill Lane in the English version. Somehow, the fact that these characters are French adds a dimension of humanity that is lacking in the "Birdcage." Even the setting on the French Riviera (versus the buff and tough South Beach in the American version) adds to the three dimensional aspects of the characters. There is a sleazy-humor at work here that has been toned down tremendously for the American version, and that can only be captured by a cast that is uniformly superb, endearing, and wonderful. Oscar nominated for its leading performer, Tognazzi, as well as its superb direction, THIS is one of the funniset movies ever made in ANY language. If you love Robin WIlliams movies, and enjoy laughing, BUY THIS FILM - you will be more than glad you did, and you'll find yourself literally hitting the pause button in order to GAWFAW your way through it.

If there were SIX stars for movies, "La Cage Aux Folles" would warrant six-and-a-half!

Since others have already expounded on the enduring comic nature of the movie itself, I'll restrict my comments to the DVD. I'd give the movie about 4 stars, but the DVD transfer I would award only 2.

Why? The film quality is not only substandard, but on occasion the frame jumps, as if somebody had bumped the telecine during the process. Additionally, the audio is VERY poor, not only varying in loudness, but at times the French audio track is not even synchronized with the lip movements on screen.

This would be worthy of a re-do by Criterion or other reputable production company...please?

This review refers to "La Cage Aux Folles" DVD/MGM world Films..

If you will be viewing this film for the first time, and have already seen the more recent American version with Robin Williams and Nathan Lane("The Bird Cage"), you will find it very difficult not to compare this one to it. The Bird Cage was a wonderful and lavish production that paid homage to this original French Film, and did it quite well. I also consider that a 5 star film.

The stories although, BC has added some footage and a few more complications to the story, are just about identical. Young Laurent comes home to visit his father.Renato (Ugo Tognazzi)is the [...] owner of flamboyant cabaret, featuring some wonderful acts by drag queens. Laurent informs Dad, that he is getting married. Although very young, Renato is happy for his son. But wait..there's more; his fiancee's parents are ultra-conservative,more then that, her father's political career is based on high morals.Her parents are on the way to meet "the family", and Renato must tone down his apartment, and then there's Albin(Michael Serrault)...Reanto's very feminine lover..what to do with HIM?

The French humor, although a bit more subtle then it's American cousin, is a real laugh fest. Serrault is every bit, the whining, campy, drag-queen, we have come to love as Albert(Nathan Lane in BC). Tognazzi, is wonderful as the father trying to cope with both the moody Albin, the needs of his son, and the in-laws to be.

Director Edouard Molinaro is brilliant in his direction of this farce. I viewed this last night, after not having seen it for many years, and i am still smiling as I write this review. I loved La Cage as much as I did the first time.. If you loved Bird Cage, gives this one a try, it'll charm your socks off!

The DVD is not the most pristine transfer I have seen for a film of this age. Just a little grainy, and maybe the colors could have been brightened up a bit, but there wasn't anything that distracted me from the absolute joy of this film. There are no special features, other then a theatrical trailer.(If you view the trailer, you will see that the film has been restored to some extent). The sound is Dol Dig(mono). It may be viewed in French(original) or English, and has optional subtitles in English, French and Spanish.The film is presented in a letterbox format of 1.66:1, which is listed as the original theatrical release.

If you are a fan of French Films and humor, farces in particular, I highly recommend this film. Just want to check it out, to see the film Bird Cage was based on?...makes a great weekend rental.

Merci Beaucoup....Laurie

more foreign language films recommended:
Three Colors Trilogy (Red / White / Blue) [Import](All-region)(Remastered)

Honey for Oshun (Miel Para Oshun)

Queen Margot (Koroleva Margo)

Dangerous Liaisons

This original french version is far better than the campy Ameian version. The leads are played by great actors who know how to work the screen. I still laugh each time I hear Zaza's screech. This movie also deals with a major issue, which gives it a reality flair!

It pays to overcome both aversions to foreign films and homophobic sentiments to enjoy this film, which is now already a classic farce that has already made it into a Broadway play and an Americanized version, "Birdcage," with Robin Williams and Nathan Lane. The original, however, stands out as especially spectacular, largely due to the talents of actor Michel Serrault who went on to the sequel, "La Cage Aux Folles 2," to demonstrate his acting abilities to an even greater degree.

The story tells of the owner of a gay nightclub, La Cage Aux Folles, one Renato Baldi (Ugo Tognazzi), whose son Laurent (Rémi Laurent) comes home to inform him he is getting married. Because his father has come to live a very openly gay lifestyle with his partner, Albin (Michel Serrault), a drag queen who performs in his club and who is very openly effeminate in real life as well, Laurent is very concerned that his father make a good impression on his fiancée's conservative family, who happen to be involved in politics and are very concerned about negative publicity. The only problem is that the fiancée, Andrea (Luisa Maneri), has also told a little white lie to her family that her fiancé's father is a cultural attaché. Of course, the lie ultimately breaks down when the families meet. The groom's father invites the mother, Simone (Claire Maurier), to come, but then Albin decides, without informing anyone, to dress up as a woman and pretend to be the mother, and the result is classic farce as anyone could expect. To make matters worse, when the truth is out and the bride's parents want to storm out in anger, they discover that the press are outside waiting; the only way they can leave is by way of the gay club that they so loathe and, even worse, to do it in drag to escape detection. The irony is as perfect as any farce writer could want it; the ultra-conservative father of the bride (Michel Galabru), who has been fuming all day about "the honor of his party," is suddenly forced to dress up like a woman, and when he confronts his conniving chauffeur (Venantino Venantini), who has been accepting bribes to give tips to the press about his employer's whereabouts, he lets him have it full in the face.

This film is one that will give you a laugh for sure. It's worth the price and worth having in your collection.

One of the funniest films ever made. Tognazzi and Serrault are well matched in the lead roles, and Benny Luke as Jacob the maid steals every scene. Years after first seeing the film, I still chuckle remembering Luke's line, "I cannot wear shoes; they make me fall!" Laughter is great therapy, and this classic favorite is genuine feel-good fun.

Although The Birdcage (Robin Williams, Nathan Lane) was a likeable and entertaining movie, noting can beat the general sense of fun and style generated in the 1979 French original. Ugo Tognazzi stars as Renato Baldi, the hapless owner of the 'La Cage Aux Folles' nightclub, a dinner-theatre with Drag acts as the stars. Henpecked by the biggest star of all, the fabulous and temperemental Zsa Zsa (Michel Serrault), he attempts one of the biggest performances of his life when he hears his son Laurent is engaged to marry the daughter of Charrier, an ultra right-wing politician. He tries to create a loving, heterosexual family environment to garner the Charrier's approval, and his subsequent and spectacular failure makes for one of the funniest comedies of the 1970's.

What's interesting about this movie is that even though it centres on a gay couple running a drag club, there is very little emphasis placed on the drag acts themselves... Zsa Zsa does not perform any long, unnessecary musical numbers. Instead, director Edouard Molinaro focuses on the storyline, and it's here that the movie excels. Strong performances from Tognazzi (Renato), Michel Galabru (M. Charrier), Carmen Scarpita (Charrier's long-suffering wife) and particularly Serrault as the devastatingly annoying Albin drive this movie forward, and the produciton is full of vintage 1970's touches. The score (by Ennino Morricone) is wonderful, and the dramatic strings and 70's-style synthesisers impersonationg 30's-style orchestras create a perfect comedy atmosphere.

The fact that this is a french film, too, lends much to the final piece. The sibilant and rapid speech give Zsa Zsa's tantrums wonderful resonance, and Charrier's moralising takes on a whole new level of seriousness. He's more Gene Hackman than Gene Hackman himself.

This is a thoroughly recommended movie, even though the DVD quality is not the best (but still fine) and the extras aren't worth mentioning. Get it!

La Cage Aux Folles is a hilarious French farce that spawned two sequels, a Broadway musical, and an equally good, but almost scene for scene remake (The Birdcage). Some people have said the film has stereotyped gay characters and that Serrault's constant screaming is annoying. I disagree--I found nothing offensive about the characters (gay men like Serrault exist, we've all met them!) and his screaming is actually very funny and brilliantly duplicated by Nathan Lane in the remake.

This is a great film, funny, touching, and simply wonderful. It was nominated for 3 Academy Awards and won the Golden Globe for best Foriegn Film. How many gay-themed films can you say that about?

P.S. Please ignore the R rating--the subject matter, which was pretty risky for 1978, has gotten rather tame. By today's standards, the film would easily get a PG-13.

A much funnier film than the leaden, limp American remake "The Birdcage" but the DVD can only be considered a disappointment. Some of the complaints above come from the film itself: the original film was shot through a great deal of diffusion leaving a very, very soft image and almost all the dialogue was post-dubbed, even in the original French prints. Ugo Tognazzi is evidently speaking his lines in Italian and is dubbed in French by another actor. Given that, there are problems introduced on the DVD. The sound on the French language track is awful with background noises like footsteps and door closings loud and phasing in and out. This problem is not present on the secondary choice of the English-dubbed track and forces one to choose it just to watch the film without distractions. Reel changes are also dirty and occassionaly choppy and, despite the lack of extras (only the theatrical trailer and the English track), it is not 16 X 9 enhanced. A pity as this grand and lovely farce should be seen in top condition by anyone who loves great comedy.

This original version of the ' Birdcage ' Is SO Much funnier than the english Amerikan version with Robin Williams!
People, If you like good comedy, these ' La Cage ' Movies are the BEST!!.

'La Cage Aux Folles ' will make you laugh so hard, you will have tears rolling down!
Just a petty I'm not finding the 3rd. episode.
This is the very 1st ORIGINAL La Cage, and sure worth adding to any collection.
My wife is French, and I had never the idea I would be watching a foreign movie, but this one convinced me.