I have no idea how I missed it or why it's never crossed my path before, but there you have it. I had just never seen it. My whole family (and I swear I'd mentioned my lack of having seen it before, in this very blog, even) was fucking appalled that I had never seen it. At least it says something good about my family.
What's worse, I'm sure, is that I have seen The Birdcage, and more than once. Even though the remake is practically a shot-by-shot rip off, they did a fairly good job (more so with the characters than the second half of the story), all things considered. Nothing will ever be the original, of course, but hey. The only line I missed was when Albin swears she's leaving for the cemetary with merely her toothbrush--in the '96 version, Armand remarks, "How Egyptian."
Anyhoo, I was really impressed, and it was quite risque (by American standards, I suppose) for 1979. It also seemed a little grittier and more realistic (for lack of a better word) than the '96 version in which everyone got along so splendidly and a little too easily.
I was also sad to see, while researching, that not one of the three leads survives. The son died in 1989 of AIDS, Renato (Ugo Tonazzi) died in 1990 and Albin (Michel Serrault) died just last July of cancer. But I hear La Cage Aux Folles 2 is also quite good, so I'll have to check that out.
And in keeping with the whole French thing, I had previously finished Paris Je T'aime, which I had had to postpone when Netfux sent me a shit copy and I had to turn it off after 5 stories.
I'm glad I got it back because I had been vaguely unimpressed, but the stories really picked up. Not all the stories are great (20 stories at 5 min each) but most of them are and it's certainly worth watching--a very neat film altogether. Might even crack my top ten of 2007. Assuming stiffer competition doesn't crop up...
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