The Birdcage Geregisseerd door Mike Nichols, VS, 1996, 117 min. Amerikaanse remake van de Franse film La Cage aux folles uit 1978.
Robin Williams als Armand Goldman, eigenaar van de nachtclub The Birdcage Nathan Lane als Albert Goldman, dragqueen en partner van Armand Gene Hackman als senator Kevin Keeley en vader van Barbara Dianne Wiest als Louise Keeley, vrouw van senator Kevin Keeley Dan Futterman als Val Goldma, zoon van Armand Calista Flockhart als Barbara Keeley, aanstaande bruid van Val Hank Azaria als huisknecht Agador Christine Baranski als Katherine Archer Grant Heslov als fotograaf van de National Enquirer
'We
are family', de openingssong van de film, is ook gelijk het thema. 'We
zijn allemaal één grote familie.' Om zo'n oubollige boodschap te
verkopen moet het papiertje wel erg fraai zijn. Maar dat kan je wel aan
regisseur Nichols (The Graduate, Working Girl) overlaten. Het verhaal
(homopaar doet zich voor als echtpaar om de toekomstige schoonouders
van de zoon van één van hen niet te veel schrik aan te jagen) is
simpel, Nichols' uitwerking is echter zo uitbundig dat The Birdcage
wereldwijd een groot succes was. Hij werd geholpen door het goede
acteerwerk en het venijnig-komische scenario van Elaine May. VPRO Cinema
Val
en Barbara zijn verloofd. Lange tijd hebben ze willen voorkomen dat hun
ouders elkaar zouden ontmoeten maar het moet er nu toch echt van komen.
Dit lijkt echter niet erg simpel. Vals vader Armand is eigenaar van een
homobar met de naam The Birdcage. Zijn vriend, Albert, treedt hier op
als dragqueen. Barbara's vader is een ultraconservatieve senator van de
Republikeinse Partij. Om een verkeerde reactie van Barbara's ouders te
voorkomen wordt een rollenspel in gang gezet.
Armand
Goldman is the openly gay owner of a drag club in South Beach called
The Birdcage; his partner Albert, an effeminate and flamboyant man,
plays "Starina", the star attraction of the club. They live together in
an apartment above The Birdcage with Agador, their flamboyant
Guatemalan housekeeper who dreams of being in Albert's drag show as
well. One
day, Armand's son Val (born after Armand had a one-night stand with a
woman named Katherine) comes home to visit and announces that he has
been seeing a young woman named Barbara, whom he intends to marry.
Although unhappy by the news, Armand agrees to support his son.
Unfortunately, Barbara's parents are the ultraconservative Republican
Senator Kevin Keeley and his wife Louise. Keeley,
who is co-founder of a conservative group called the Coalition for
Moral Order, becomes embroiled in a political scandal when his
co-founder and fellow Senator is found dead in the bed of an underage
black prostitute. Louise and Barbara convince Senator Keeley that a
visit to his daughter's fiancee's family would be the perfect way to
stave off bad press, and plan to travel to South Beach as soon as
possible. Barbara
shares news of her father's plan to Val; to cover the Goldmans'
alternate lifestyle, she has told her parents that Armand is straight
and a cultural attaché to Greece. Armand dislikes the idea of being
forced into the closet, but agrees to play along, enlisting the help of
friends and club employees to redecorate the family's apartment to more
closely resemble a traditional household. Albert initially wants to use
his skills as a drag artist to play Val's mother, but Val and Armand
fear that the trick will not work, and instead convince him to pose as
Val's uncle. Armand contacts Katherine and explains the situation; she
agrees to the farce, promising to come to the party and pretend to be
his wife. Armand then tries to coach Albert on how to be straight, but
Albert's flamboyant nature makes the task difficult. When Albert
realizes his plan won't fool anyone, he takes offense and locks himself
in his room. The
Keeleys arrive at the Goldmans (who are calling themselves "Coleman"
for the evening to hide their Jewish heritage) redecorated apartment;
they are greeted by Agador, who is passing himself off as a Greek
butler named "Spartacus" for the night. Unfortunately, Katherine gets
caught in traffic, and the Keeleys begin wondering where "Mrs. Coleman"
is. Suddenly, Albert enters, dressed and styled as a conservative
middle-aged woman. Armand, Val, and Barbara are nervous, but Kevin and
Louise are tricked by the disguise. Despite
the success of the evening, trouble begins when Senator Keeley's
chauffeur betrays him to two tabloid journalists who have been hoping
for a scoop on the Coalition story. While they research The Birdcage,
they also remove a note that Armand has left on the door informing
Katherine not to come upstairs. When she finally arrives, she
unknowingly reveals the deceptions. Though Armand and Albert scramble
to find a new cover story, Val instead confesses to the scheme and
identifies Albert as his true parent. Senator
Keeley is initially confused by the situation, but Louise both informs
him of the truth and scolds him for being more concerned with his
career than his family's happiness. He agrees to the marriage, but
discovers that the paparazzi are waiting outside to take his picture.
Albert then realizes that there is a way for the family to escape
without being recognized: he dresses Kevin and Louise in drag, and they
use the apartment's back entrance to sneak into The Birdcage, with
Armand introducing them as a part of the club's nightly act. They all
dance out of the nightclub door and reach safety, preventing a
disaster. Barbara and Val are married in an interfaith service, which
both families attend.
The
Birdcage werd genomineerd voor onder meer een Academy Award voor de
artdirection en Golden Globes voor beste komedie en beste komedieacteur
(Nathan Lane). Daarnaast won de film daadwerkelijk American Comedy
Awards voor grappigste hoofdrolspeler (Lane) en grappigste
bijrolspeelster (Dianne Wiest) en een Screen Actors Guild Award voor
het spel van alle acteurs.
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