About C.R.A.Z.Y.
The film is based on the memoirs of a man
called Francois Boulay, interspersed with
director, Jean-Marc Vallee’s. It is
also about the title itself, a story of
5 different boys although it mainly focuses
on the 4th child, Zac. It is practically
about his entire growth and experience in
life from wetting his bed as a young boy
and to being sexually confused in his teenage
years.
The film opens quickly to Zac’s birth
on Christmas day. After all the exposure
from other films, it seems rather normal
to see a woman’s water bag burst but
to see a young child dropping his new born
baby brother is definitely jaw dropping.
Of course, the point of the film is not
to shock you. This is no thriller or horror
flick. As mentioned, it is about a direct
and honest growth of a boy and his experience
in life with a catholic family.
The film gives simple, direct points on
how Zac’s growth contributed to his
sexually confused state in the end. It ranges
from his true birthday desires, a carriage
where girls place their dolls in, to him
dressing up as a girl while he plays with
his baby brother. Of course, no masculine
father can bear to see his son turn out
into a “sissy”. Then again,
Zac’s mother has always been supportive
of her son. In a way, she is the responsible
one for fulfilling Zac’s inner most
desires by allowing him to push his baby
brother’s cot away from his father’s
eyes. Still, no secret can be kept for long.
His father soon finds out and whatever pleasant
relationship they had with each other is
diminished.
Throughout the film, we see Zac having
infatuations with different men apparent
in his life, from his cousin’s boyfriend
to a boy in school who has a crush on Zac.
Zac’s father, obviously, isn’t
very happy when he discovers all these affairs.
The funny thing is that Zac’s father
himself had tried to enter his pecker into
his wife’s ass. Neither once nor twice,
sadly, did he manage to do that, as his
wife remembers.
The film also transports us from Zac’s
character to his roots of religion when
Zac escapes to the holy land Jerusalem after
having a tiff with his father as his urges
for men returns to haunt him. He even jokingly
pokes fun at his mother who would kill to
go there.
The story then reunites us with Zac and
his family where he tragically finds his
eldest brother in critical condition after
an overdose of drugs. His mother receives
him warmly but his father doesn’t.
The rest of his brothers don’t say
much but it feels as if everything has calmed
down now. Zac departs again after hearing
his father’s regret, leaving behind
the limited edition of Crazy. From here,
Zac seeks forgiveness from Michelle, apologizing
in a warm embrace.
Zac’s eldest brother dies and the
funeral wake rolls along and brings all
the brothers together once more. As the
end grows near, the song Crazy returns,
playing in the background. It is here where
Zac reconciles with his father. As soapy
as it may seem, it felt as though love came
through everything. At this intense emotional
state, comedy breaks in as the youngest
brother breaks the vinyl Crazy, just like
Zac when he was younger.
The story then ends, coming a full circle
where one sees young boy Zac in the car
feeling the wind blow through his hair and
then with older Zac driving along, caring
for his now old father, having accepted
Zac’s homosexuality. A great happy
ending indeed.
Raves and Rants about the Film
It is not the title of a Britney spears
song. Crazy is a song about romance that
was interpreted by Patsy Cline, an oldie
that perhaps my own father would remember
and enjoy. The song Crazy as been used as
the main theme of a French Canadian film
of the same name; I myself have fallen in
love with this film. It reaches out and
grabs me, giving me a strange tingly feeling
within.
C.R.A.Z.Y. is what one would call a gay
film and now with all the hype from Brokeback
Mountain, one would expect to see something
similar but forget about Brokeback Mountain
when you watch Crazy. So what about gay
cowboys with apparent lust when they had
nothing to do on a mountain? I feel that
Crazy is far better than that. It shows
growth in a sense where one needs no cowboy
hat to feel the love. One can relate and
feel similar relations when they watch Crazy.
As much as Brokeback Mountain may have been
about homosexuality in an area which has
low tolerance about it, Crazy is something
that can happen at home. A boy’s revelation
about his homosexuality to his parents is
something one can see happening around them.
Crazy is about the reality around us with
a tinge of comedy and drama add to it. It’s
like art imitating life, whereas Brokeback
Mountain feels as if it’s an erotic
fantasy novel being played out on film.
I’m very impressed with Crazy’s
nice approach to its topic. I feel that
it was playful and naughty with its story
telling techniques. Like mentioned in the
synopsis above, it seriously transcends
the audience into the growth of Zac himself
without boring the viewers at all. It is
direct to start off with Zac’s birth
and then ‘bring us along’ with
him as the film reveals his relationship
with his father. It was been a great relationship,
where his father showered him endlessly
with love. Even until the end, after all
the conflict and problems that arose in
Zac’s life, his father loved him to
the very end. Crazy’s setting also
shows changes as Zac progresses in life.
Ranging from possibly the late 70’s
to the present, it’s been a long way
yet the film remains pleasant and enjoyable
through out.
The editing plays an important role in
keeping the movie fresh throughout. For
example, to show what Zac’s brothers’
specialties were, only freeze framed pictures
were used to show what they could do. Also,
the film used innovative ways to show transitions
of Zac’s growth. A camera flash was
used to show Zac’s growth from a baby
to a child receiving a huge gift on his
birthday whereas a dream sequence was used
to show his growth from a child to a teenager.
Again, I loved the naughty transition which
featured oral sex to show his growth from
a teenager to an adult. It also did the
concealing and revealing of his sexuality
then. Slow motion and fast motion were also
done to emphasis the violence as Zac thrashed
the boy who had a crush on him. Another
interesting point in editing was when the
brothers were explaining how their eldest
brother was found in critical condition
in the toilet. The film used a flash frame,
where it quickly revealed the position he
was in, in a flash.
As I had mentioned earlier, a voiceover
was present to help move the story forward.
I personally love voiceovers. It really
feels as though someone’s telling
the story to you, like a parent reading
a book to a child before bed. Of course,
the voiceover only appears at appropriate
times. Just like Desperate Housewives, it
appears at the start of the film and at
the end of the film to sum things up. I
feel it gives a much more wholesome ending
to the film.
The casting of the show is rather well
done. I personally found that Zac pulled
off his character well. Especially young
Zac, it’s remarkable to know that
a young boy could act so well. Still, as
much as I enjoyed Zac’s performance
in the film, I felt that Zac’s father’s
presence was much stronger and more important.
As much as he provided the “seed”
that contributed to Zac’s birth, it
felt as if he held the show together. His
presence was strongly felt until the very
last scene. His acting was so real that
he could even be anyone’s father.
It’s really that spectacular.
Even with all these things the film has
done, I feel the best thing the film has
given to its audiences, is love. I sat there,
watching the film and feeling it. As much
as one could almost cry when they watch
Brokeback Mountain’s men being separated
and then reunited once more, I feel that
Crazy brought more love than that: the love
of a father to his son and a son to his
father. I was tremendously touched when
the film ended. Love triumphed in the end
and to see that it came full circle when
Zac brought his father to eat chips, it’s
something even a heterosexual man can feel
touched with.
I’m sure after watching the film;
the people around me cannot help but return
home to give their own fathers a warm hug.
Written by: Bryan Ho
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