C.R.A.Z.Y.

Zac is the middle of five brothers in Quebec, born on 25 December 1960. His father Gervais dotes on him and is rigid about what a man is. As Zac grows up he is caught between his own sexuality and what his father expects, and across twenty years from the late sixties into the eighties the two lose each other. The title comes from the initials of the five brothers' names. Jean-Marc Vallée directed and co-wrote. The most striking production fact is about the music. Song rights ate nearly ten percent of the budget: 600,000 dollars. The producers spent two and a half years clearing them and Vallée gave up his own fee to help pay for them. The list includes Pink Floyd, David Bowie, The Rolling Stones, Jefferson Airplane, The Cure and Elvis Presley. The single most expensive was Sympathy for the Devil at 138,000 dollars for two minutes and twenty-five seconds of use. The budget shrank too. The projected 8.9 million dollars had to come down to 7.3 million before Telefilm Canada support could be secured. In Quebec the result was plain. It took 2 million dollars in the province in its first two weeks and 3.6 million Canadian dollars after seven; by October 2005 it was near 6 million in Quebec cinemas, second in the provincial box office for that summer behind only the third Star Wars. Who it is for: viewers who like period films about family and identity and strong use of music. Who it is not for: anyone wanting restraint. The film covers twenty years fast and some passages are montages built on a song.