La Cage aux folles II

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.

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.

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)

I am not purposely skipped the first installment, just by coincidence, I could only found the sequel right now, soothingly enough, the omission itself does not spoil the fun of this French slapstick comedy made more than 30 years ago.

How many times one could laugh out loud watching a gay/transvestite film from beginning till the very end? What's more precious is without being tainted by vulgar gags sand abominable antics (especially immune of sex-relating perversions or individual sex- orientation humiliations).

Plot-wise, although devoid of certain logistics, everything serves up to the middle-age crisis in this gay-relationship, particularly the deterioration of Zaza Napoli's self-confidence (a remarkable performance from the late Michel Serrault), which wisely puts audience into a heartfelt milieu whereas the entire "mini-film case" merely functions as a backdrop, there is no worries about our protagonists' personal security, the only gory murder is underplayed by a poison-dart.

The odd-couple route stews in a series of set pieces which strive on the verge of platitude, yet the acting, literally Michel Serrault, does single-handedly overturns the unfavorable condition, also who could forget Benny Luke's transvestite black servant (who changes his dresses in each scene), whilst in the latter returning-to-Italy part, the contradiction is pure simple but effective, which leavens the situation into a more culturally universal understanding. Enrico Morricone's score also is a big selling-point for the film

Overall, this super-optimistic farce (I suppose it includes the entire series, there are three films in all) could easily outshines among myriads of melodramatic-sentimental gay genre films even they were made several dozens of years ahead.

I really laugh when I saw this second episode of La Cage aux Folles. Some say it's too exaggerated, that it's unbelievable. But what about Tootsie, Mrs Doubtfire or Some Like it Hot? It's in the same spirit. It's a comedy and when you forget the plausibility, you can have a LOT of fun! Zaza, the main character is unbelievalbe, a drama queen like there's never been on screen. She pups up from a birthday cake, she has to wear men's cloctes (yes! desesperatly still look like a woman!), she seduces an half-witted Italian peasant, absolutely hilarious! Eveything is great, the images, the costumes, the acting, the action. Not to be missed!