Yuna@yuna_y

Follow

La Cage aux Folles 1978

The Birdcage gets called the original so often that people forget France got there first, in 1978, with La Cage aux Folles. That mix-up matters, because the earlier film is the funnier and meaner one, and the edges it keeps are edges the remake sanded down. What it actually is: a precision farce, not a "gay movie." The machinery runs on straight characters doing bad impressions of themselves, and the punchline is how clumsily the "normal" family performs being "normal." Performance and identity get treated as the subject rather than the garnish, which is why a comedy this old still has something to say in 2026. Michel Serrault plays Albin, and the performance is a masterclass in turning vulnerability into a weapon. Strength and fragility show up in the same gesture, no winking at the camera required. He doesn't stand outside the joke and point at it. Strip it down and the plot is almost a sitcom: a son asks his two fathers to act heterosexual for one evening. One of them says yes. The other says yes, then arrives as the most convincing mother in France. So the whole thing becomes a plan collapsing in sequins. Which is the answer for anyone who says "I don't get drag." Watch it, then try explaining why the person in heels tends to be the funniest one there. Bring a notepad if you want. You won't reach for it.

2h

Yuna@yuna_y

Follow

La Cage aux Folles 1978

The Birdcage gets called the original so often that people forget France got there first, in 1978, with La Cage aux Folles. That mix-up matters, because the earlier film is the funnier and meaner one, and the edges it keeps are edges the remake sanded down. What it actually is: a precision farce, not a "gay movie." The machinery runs on straight characters doing bad impressions of themselves, and the punchline is how clumsily the "normal" family performs being "normal." Performance and identity get treated as the subject rather than the garnish, which is why a comedy this old still has something to say in 2026. Michel Serrault plays Albin, and the performance is a masterclass in turning vulnerability into a weapon. Strength and fragility show up in the same gesture, no winking at the camera required. He doesn't stand outside the joke and point at it. Strip it down and the plot is almost a sitcom: a son asks his two fathers to act heterosexual for one evening. One of them says yes. The other says yes, then arrives as the most convincing mother in France. So the whole thing becomes a plan collapsing in sequins. Which is the answer for anyone who says "I don't get drag." Watch it, then try explaining why the person in heels tends to be the funniest one there. Bring a notepad if you want. You won't reach for it.

2h