Saint-Tropez, France. A middle-aged couple, Renato and Albin, have been together for 20 years and are still very much in love. One evening, Renato's son Laurent (from a one-night fling two decades ago and whom they have raised) informs them that he's getting married. They're not terribly excited since they think he is too young, but they are happy for him. Their happiness turns to true concern though when they find out that Laurent's fiancee, Andrea, is the daughter of an ultra-conservative politician. Even worse...the future in-laws are coming over for dinner and Andrea has not told her parents that Renato and Albin are gay men who also own the popular drag night club La Cage aux Folles (conveniently located right below their home). Or that Albin is 24/7 a woman.
I cannot even tell you how hard I laughed at this movie. I was fucking dying and there were multiple times that I had to rewind it just because I was laughing so hard. The scene where Renato teaches Albin how to put butter on her toast in "a manly way" nearly killed me. Oh my god, I'm fucking cracking up right now just thinking about it. Anyway, LA CAGE AUX FOLLES is a wonderful film and I loved every single minute of it. I was honestly shocked that it was 97 minutes long! I couldn't believe it. It went by so quickly that it felt like it was just getting started... and then it was over!
I could ramble on about this film (and maybe I'll edit in some more comments in the future), but for now I'll just say that LA CAGE AUX FOLLES is truly a beautiful film and I'm so happy that I watched it. It might even make an interesting double-feature with 1941's LOVE CRAZY.
Part 2 - La Cage aux Folles II (1980)
Part 3 - La Cage aux Folles 3: The Wedding (1985)
Remake - The Birdcage (1996)
