Lost in Criterion

Spine 671: La Cage aux Folles


Listen Later

Sometimes Criterion shows us a single film from a director we'd never seen before and leaves us wanting for the rest of our project, so often actually that we call them "one and dones". But then sometimes Criterion shows us a movie by Edouard Molinaro and it's fine that they aren't going to show us another. La Cage aux Folles (1978) is a funny movie, and is also a film that wants to show a very normal family that happens to be LGBTQ. It even may succeed, despite the fact that nearly everyone involved in writing, directing, and performing seems to be a straight guy who holds the material in some amount of disdain, though a disdain that doesn't necessarily shine through in performance. There is heart here, despite everything, but it's mostly a "both sides" farce. Still Criterion takes the opportunity to include an interview with Laurence Senelick, author of The Changing Room: Sex, Drag and Theatre, who gives a very interesting history of drag and gender-nonconformity that helps contextualize La Cage in its time, even if it doesn't quell our troubles with the film's politics.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Lost in CriterionBy Lost in Criterion

  • 2.9
  • 2.9
  • 2.9
  • 2.9
  • 2.9

2.9

48 ratings


More shows like Lost in Criterion

View all
Up First from NPR by NPR

Up First from NPR

57,023 Listeners

The Rewatchables by The Ringer

The Rewatchables

14,058 Listeners

Today, Explained by Vox

Today, Explained

10,301 Listeners

The Big Picture by The Ringer

The Big Picture

5,750 Listeners

The Important Cinema Club by Justin Decloux and Will Sloan

The Important Cinema Club

478 Listeners

The Ezra Klein Show by New York Times Opinion

The Ezra Klein Show

16,261 Listeners

Past Present Future by David Runciman

Past Present Future

339 Listeners

The OSCARS: What Were They Thinking?! by Atomic Entertainment

The OSCARS: What Were They Thinking?!

111 Listeners