La Cage aux folles II

When this film was released on VHS worldwide, the voices had been dubbed in English; since then, I've only found subtitled in English versions. That said, the dubbed version, for those of us not fluent in French, was absolutely excellent--hats off to the producers of such an entertaining film. We find our "heroes" all embroiled in all kinds of shenanigans, but mainly: they're in trouble with the Mob. Terrifically funny and clever, it backs off the social statement that La Cage I went to great pains to present. Cage II seems to have set social significance aside, for the most part, and then panders to the "funny bone" to get laughs, albeit good ones. Both I and II were (are) trailblazers in the gay movement around the world (well, perhaps not so much in Uganda, Nigeria, or Kenya or in some Mid-Eastern countries, alas). Cage III is something else.

Gay couple Albin (Michael Serrault) and Renato (Ugo Tognazzi) get involved with the police and gangsters when Albin gets some stolen microfilm. They flee to Italy and try to hide out.

This isn't as good as the original (which was ground breaking) but it's a hundred times better than part 3 (which was dreadful). The plot is silly but when Albin and Renato are on screen who cares? The two actors are great in their roles. There's plenty of funny sequences especially when all the policemen dress up in drag! So it's worth seeing but don't expect it to be as good as the original. BTW--ignore the R rating. It's PG-13 all the way.

Although some have said they like this sequel better than part one, this follow-up to C.A.F. is a little more forced than the first one. Albin does plenty of high pitched shrieks to keep us chuckling and involved, but this story isn't as solid as the first. As long as you keep your expectations in check, you'll have fun. The story starts at the nightclub, but there are mixups and shenanigans in hotel rooms, and running around France. With the good guys and the bad guys both chasing after them, they go into hiding at Renato's family home in Italy. The in-laws, the Deputy of the Moral Committee is in this one briefly, and Jacob the over-emotional maid, but not the son. It's also not the safe, happy-go-lucky world of the nightclub that we saw in Part 1. In this one, there are plenty of gags and jokes, but also a fair amount of hateful name calling and street fighting that we didn't see in part 1. There's also a subplot of Luigi the farm hand falling for one of them, but you'll have to watch it for yourself.

Just when I thought they stopped making good movies sometime in the early seventies! This French film is absolutely priceless, hilarious and touching, full of social commentary and gender-busting chutzpah. Man pretending to be woman pretending to be man!!!!! Gays teaching straights how to walk gay!!! Inspired! Brilliant acting by everyone, especially the leads, fast action, not one boring moment, not at all catering to the average. I haven't seen the other two films. I can't wait to see them. This masterpiece is every bit as good as "The Odd Couple".

This movie is worth a look, even though it lacks the same spark as its supremely hilarious predecessor.

(N.B., Michel Serrault who plays Albin in the La Cage movies plays the equally fey hairdresser in "The King of Hearts" starring Alan Bates)