La Cage Aux Folles

I love French comedies, partly because so much is left unstated, relying on understated facial expressions.

We enjoyed watching La Cage Aux Folles, the old French comedy recently. It was tender and touching–the unbreakable bond between the Renato, the aging nightclub owner, and his star attraction and gay lover, the transvestite diva, Albin, and about the love between Renato, and his young, straight son who has just  got engaged to the daughter of France’s leading ultra-conservative politician.

She brings her parents to meet them, and the aging gays pretend to be models of respectability–with hilarious, and predictable conclusions.

But it turns out, the in-laws-to-be, like all holier than thou folk, have secrets of their own.

Okay, it’s campy, both sets of parents are so stereotypical that they are almost caricatures,  but it’s a fun film to laugh at on a Friday night, and what’s more, practise your French, while laughing.