| Photos (see all 9 | slideshow) | Videos (see all 7 NEW) |
| Michel Côté | ... | Gervais Beaulieu | |
| Marc-André Grondin | ... | Zachary Beaulieu 15 à 21 ans | |
| Danielle Proulx | ... | Laurianne Beaulieu | |
| Émile Vallée | ... | Zachary Beaulieu 6 à 8 ans | |
| Pierre-Luc Brillant | ... | Raymond Beaulieu 22 à 28 ans | |
| Maxime Tremblay | ... | Christian Beaulieu 24 à 30 ans | |
| Alex Gravel | ... | Antoine Beaulieu 21 à 27 ans | |
| Natasha Thompson | ... | Michelle 15 à 22 ans | |
| Johanne Lebrun | ... | Doris | |
| Mariloup Wolfe | ... | Brigitte 15 à 20 ans | |
| Francis Ducharme | ... | Paul | |
| Hélène Grégoire | ... | Madame Chose | |
| Michel Laperrière | ... | Psychothérapeute | |
| Jean-Louis Roux | ... | Prêtre | |
| Mohamed Majd | ... | Bédouin | |
| Claude Gagnon | ... | Narrateur | |
| Jean-Alexandre Létourneau | ... | Christian Beaulieu 15 à 17 ans | |
| Sébastien Blouin | ... | Antoine Beaulieu 12 à 14 ans | |
| Félix-Antoine Despatie | ... | Yvan Beaulieu 13 à 16 ans | |
| Gabriel Lalancette | ... | Yvan Beaulieu 8 à 9 ans | |
| Denis Trudel | ... | Oncle Georges | |
| Paule Ducharme | ... | Tante Diane | |
| Aline Hooper | ... | Grand-mère Angèle | |
| Isabelle Page | ... | Tante Monique | |
| Christian Vezina | ... | Oncle Lucien | |
| Anik Vermette | ... | Corinne | |
| Marie-Yong Godbout-Turgeon | ... | Min | |
| Aziz Attab | ... | Vendeur kiosque de cartes postales | |
| Philippe Muller | ... | Jeune étranger | |
| Jérôme Aubin | ... | Jérôme | |
| Jean-Marc Vallée | ... | Jeune prêtre | |
| Marie-Michelle Duchesne | ... | Michelle 6 à 8 ans | |
| Alexandre Ayotte | ... | Thomas | |
| Mathieu Pelletier | ... | Étudiant costaud | |
| Élizabeth Adam | ... | Brigitte 6 ans | |
| Emmanuel Raymond | ... | Raymond Beaulieu 7 ans | |
| Charles-Édouard Tanguay | ... | Chistian Beaulieu 9 ans | |
| Émile Gagnon-Girard | ... | Antoine Beaulieu 6 ans | |
| Olivier Benard | ... | Bébé Zachary naissant | |
| David Vaillant | ... | Bébé Yvan 7 mois à 1 an | |
| Hugo Vaillant | ... | Bébé Yvan 7 mois à 1 an | |
| Alexandre Marchand | ... | Bébé Yvan 3 mois | |
| Nikita Jaksi | ... | Bébé Yvan naissant | |
| Yves Perreault | ... | DJ | |
| rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
| Jonathan Collins | ... | Emilio | |
| Antoine Côté-Potvin | ... | Raymond Beaulieu 13 à 15 ans | |
Directed by | |||
| Jean-Marc Vallée | |||
Writing credits(in alphabetical order) | ||
| François Boulay | writer | |
| Jean-Marc Vallée | writer | |
Produced by | |||
| Jacques Blain | .... | executive producer | |
| Pierre Even | .... | producer | |
| Nicole Hilaréguy | .... | line producer | |
| Richard Speer | .... | executive producer | |
| Jean-Marc Vallée | .... | co-producer | |
Original Music by | |||
| David Bowie | |||
Cinematography by | |||
| Pierre Mignot | (director of photography) | ||
Film Editing by | |||
| Paul Jutras | |||
Casting by | |||
| Daniel Poisson | |||
Production Design by | |||
| Patrice Vermette | (as Patrice Bricault-Vermette) | ||
Art Direction by | |||
| Patrice Vermette | |||
Costume Design by | |||
| Ginette Magny | |||
Makeup Department | |||
| Réjean Goderre | .... | key hair stylist | |
| C.J. Goldman | .... | special makeup effects artist | |
| Kathy Kelso | .... | makeup artist: extras | |
| Christine Larocque | .... | wig maker | |
| Adrien Morot | .... | key special makeup effects artist | |
| Micheline Trépanier | .... | makeup department head | |
| Nathalie Trépanier | .... | assistant makeup artist | |
Production Management | |||
| Zoubir Belgsir | .... | unit manager | |
| Laurent Communaux | .... | unit manager | |
| Danny Turgeon | .... | assistant unit manager | |
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director | |||
| Noureddine Aberdine | .... | first assistant director | |
| Emilie Malo | .... | third assistant director | |
Art Department | |||
| Natacha Antiglio | .... | coordinator | |
| John-Michael Bellamy | .... | props | |
| Charles-André Bertrand | .... | property master | |
| Martin Chalifoux | .... | construction manager | |
| Louis Frederic Denomme | .... | set dresser | |
| Martin Handfield | .... | on-set property master | |
| Jose Holder | .... | storyboard artist | |
| Amélie Leonard | .... | assistant to set designer (as Amélie Léonard) | |
| Alain Perron | .... | assistant art director | |
| Alain Rouiller | .... | set dresser | |
| Mélanie Truchon | .... | scenic painter | |
| Halima Zniber | .... | set dresser (uncredited) | |
Sound Department | |||
| Yvon Benoît | .... | sound mixer | |
| Daniel Bisson | .... | sound recordist | |
| Luc Boudrias | .... | sound re-recording mixer | |
| Anton Fishlin | .... | sound editor | |
| Bernard Gariépy Strobl | .... | sound re-recording mixer | |
| Hans Laitres | .... | sound re-recording mix assistant | |
| Patrick Lalonde | .... | assistant sound mixer | |
| Patrick Lalonde | .... | assistant sound re-recording mixer | |
| Jacques-Alexandre Levesque | .... | foley artist assistant | |
| Mira Mailhot | .... | sound editor | |
| Simon Meilleur | .... | foley artist | |
| Mireille Morin | .... | sound editor | |
| Martin Pinsonnault | .... | supervising sound editor | |
| Jean-François Sauvé | .... | sound effects editor | |
Special Effects by | |||
| Normand Gobeille | .... | special effects technician | |
| Guillaume Murray | .... | special effects supervisor | |
| Martin Williams | .... | special effects rigger | |
Visual Effects by | |||
| Nicolas Cadorette | .... | compositor | |
| Marc Cote | .... | visual effects director (as Marc Cõté) | |
| Daniel Coupal | .... | compositor | |
| Thai Son Doan | .... | compositor | |
| Gunnar Hansen | .... | visual effects consultant | |
| Isabelle Langlois | .... | digital compositor | |
| Isabelle Riva | .... | production consultant | |
| Sylvain Theroux | .... | lead digital artist | |
| Jean Phillipe Traore | .... | Flame artist | |
| Kim Yong-Kyun | .... | lead technical director | |
| Kim Yong-Kyun | .... | senior compositor | |
Stunts | |||
| Philippe Roberge | .... | stunt rigger | |
Camera and Electrical Department | |||
| Geoffroy Beauchemin | .... | underwater camera operator | |
| Michel Bernier | .... | focus puller | |
| Jean-François Dasylva-LaRue | .... | grip | |
| Andre-Pierre Lampron | .... | electrician | |
| Denis-Noel Mostert | .... | camera operator: "b" camera | |
| Yanka Pelletier | .... | grip | |
| Sébastien Raymond | .... | still photographer | |
| David Reinhard | .... | first assistant camera: underwater scenes | |
| Geoffroy St-Hilaire | .... | second assistant camera | |
| Jean-Francois Tousignant | .... | loader | |
Casting Department | |||
| Mustapha Grumij | .... | casting assistant | |
Costume and Wardrobe Department | |||
| Anne-Marie Aird | .... | costume design assistant | |
| Julie Amyot | .... | dresser | |
Editorial Department | |||
| Marie-Hélène Bourget | .... | assistant on-line editor | |
| Simon Broderick | .... | telecine colorist | |
| Geneviève Hébert | .... | director of post-production | |
| Sylvain Lebel | .... | additional editor | |
| Arthur Montreuil | .... | color timer | |
Other crew | |||
| Guy Aumond | .... | production accountant | |
| Annemarie Berthiaume | .... | production assistant | |
| Brigitte Chabot | .... | unit publicist | |
| Danielle Dussault | .... | location manager | |
| Jeannette Garcia | .... | assistant to producer | |
| Charlene Hodge | .... | accounting assistant | |
Thanks | |||
| Chantal Cacheux | .... | thanks | |
| Sylvain Guy | .... | thanks | |
|
|
|
|
|
| Sunshine | La face cachée de la lune | La gloire de mon père | Mysterious Skin | Au revoir les enfants |
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
| Full cast and crew | Company credits | External reviews |
| News articles | IMDb Drama section | IMDb Canada section |
| Add this title to MyMovies |
I wasn't really sure what to expect of this film, because the majority of what I'd read concerned the distribution issues in the US relating to its soundtrack full of copyrighted songs. I now see why the filmmakers can't remove those songs, and I also see why so many people are desperate to see it released, because everyone deserves to see this film.
It's all about a devout Christian husband and wife in Quebec who have five sons: Christian, Raymond, Antoine, Zachary (j'adore!) and Yvan. They're like a male French Canadian version of the Spice Girls: as Zachary relates to us early in the film, we have Brainy (Christian); Druggy (Raymond); Sporty (Antoine); Fairy (Zachary); and Fatty (Yvan). The story begins with the birth of Zachary in the early 1960s, the fourth child. He's born on Christmas Day, and is seen to have been given a gift from God; the power to heal. As we'll see, he's certainly destined to be different. His behaviour (dressing up in his mother's clothes, wetting the bed, taking care of his baby brother) gets him labelled a fag by his older brothers, the kids at school, and even his dad.
We watch the boys grow up over the course of three decades. Before Z becomes something of an alien in the family, he is the child most favoured by his parents. His mother, already aware of his gift, dotes on him, and his father is a hero to the young boy, with a great record collection (the entire Patsy Cline back catalogue!), cool shades, and a habit of taking Z for fries without the knowledge of his other sons. However, as we follow the boys into their teens, it's clear that Z has not been able to shake those early accusations of homosexuality. We see him at 16 in his bedroom, shirtless and with Ziggy Stardust make-up on his face, singing along passionately to 'Space Oddity'. All of a sudden, Antoine bursts into the room and punches Z in the arm, knocking him down and telling him, "stop singing along to that f%#king fag! you're making us look like a bunch of fairies!", and as the camera pans towards the bedroom window, we see a neighbourhood of children clapping and jeering at Z's spirited performance. They had been watching the whole thing.
Z gets a reputation at school for being queer, and this leads him to rebel, threatening those who call him names, and beating the tar out of a boy who shows some interest in him (and who later involuntarily leads to a major falling out between Z and his father, ending up with Z in therapy so that he can be "cured").
Z's occasional narration at one point stresses that two subjects have become taboo in the family by the time he turns 21; himself and Raymond. R makes a fascinating counterpoint with Z in terms of the relationship to their father. In an early scene, several girls come knocking for Raymond, and his dad proudly exclaims, "our son is a Casanova!" This pride in his son's macho accomplishments causes him to overlook R's drug habit until the consequences become almost disastrous for the family. Even then, he deludes himself, believing that R is clean, trying to get his life back in order, and constantly lends him money, despite things continuing to go from bad to worse.
On the other hand, Z's sensitivity is not accepted with nearly the same degree of pride as R's sexual precociousness; in fact, it isn't accepted at all. Any accomplishment Z makes is belittled by his father, and when Z's divine gift is confirmed by a local mystic, his father is extremely skeptical. Things in their relationship improve when Z finds a girlfriend. However, Z's behaviour deteriorates to the point where he risks becoming like his older brother. His sexual confusion becomes so extreme that it almost results in his death several times, while even a small degree of acceptance from his father may have been enough to resolve any guilt over his true sexuality, and allow mom and dad to concentrate their concern on the *real* problem child -- Raymond.
While the theme of self-discovery and personal growth gives the film an extremely strong emotional core, with a cast of thoroughly sympathetic, complete characters (and it seems like an insult to refer to them as just "characters" -- they are living, breathing people, as far as I'm concerned), there is much entertainment to be had in the changing fashions, developing attitudes and shifting cultural focus of the film. Watching the gorgeous Marc-André Grondin (Zachary) going from tight jeans and roller skates to sullen spikes and eyeliner to bronzed globetrotter was a personal highlight! The soundtrack is also an essential component of the film, reflecting Z's flowering love of popular music, from his days spent in the passenger seat of his dad's car, listening to Patsy Cline, to imagining a Midnight Mass erupting in a chorus of 'Sympathy for the Devil' by The Stones, getting high to Pink Floyd and downing liquor at the bar of an exotic gay club to early House; it's the soundtrack to a life spent in search of himself, and because of the power of pop music, we feel like we were there for every tear shed, every punch thrown, every cigarette smoked and every longing stare left to linger.
By the end of the film, I was nearly in tears. I'd been through an emotional roller-coaster of a film with characters I'd grown to love, and while the heart-stopping ending might have been responsible for my emotional response, the tears in my eyes were there because, really, I didn't want such a beautiful movie to end.