October 14, 2005
FIlm Fridays: C.R.A.Z.Y. Film Overload
What a perfect confluence of events we have today! C.R.A.Z.Y., the Quebec smash with $600,000 worth of ridiculously good music, opens. And CBC Arts bounces back, with a good piece on how the film got made. Even further, another guy known for stellar soundtracks opens his movie to dismal reviews, proving that you can't rely on music alone. When we saw Jean-Marc Vallée's story of love, family and Patsy Cline at TIFF, we loved it. Then we walked out of the theatre to hear a smarmy critic remark, 'At first I thought it was going to be kind of a Ma Vie En Rose thing, but it really fell apart.' Not so, we thought, but what were we to do, beyond glare at the guy for his loud dismissal. C.R.A.Z.Y., already Canada's nominee for Best Foreign Film, is encompassing, funny and georgeously shot.
We'll concede that C.R.A.Z.Y's a bit long, but if you're not already checking out the Toronto Latin Film Festival, The ImagineNative Film Festival, The Spinning Wheel Film Festival, The DNA Film Festival or the Toronto Tibet Film Festival, then you might go enjoy.
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That C.R.A.Z.Y. piece by Hays is almost entirely recycled material form a C.R.A.Z.Y. piece he wrote for cbc.ca/arts several months ago (and which now seems gone from the site).
Anyway, glad to see C.R.A.Z.Y. get four stars in the Post, 3.5 in the Globe and the Star.
You guys heard they might remake it as an American flick, right? Apparently they love the cars, the music, the clothes, the people, the story, but none of its quirks, and certainly not its language.
"'One of the reasons the film has not been sold in the U.S. is that many people told us it's too close to the U.S. to be in a different language,' [producer] Even said in a phone interview."
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1143672623527