I have been hearing about this film for many many years now. But for some reason, given it came out way back in 1982, I had my reservations and I couldn't bring myself to see the film. Also, top be honest, I am not really sure if it was a classic gay film or is it just a cult film thats loved by gays because of Julie Andrews. Finally, all my hesitation went for a toss after having seen this film.
Set in 1930s in Paris, aging Toddy is MC at one of the clubs. His male lovers are faithless and his career is at a standstill. A chance encounter with Victoria, a brilliant female singer changes his life forever. When she keeps getting rejected and finds herself starving in Paris, its Toddy who comes with a brilliant idea. He asks her to pretend to be a man and then play a female impersonator in a club. With her style she will become popular. Their bets pay off. They become best friends and we have a girl, pretending to man impersonating to be a woman. They soon become talk of the town and Victoria soon gets attention of King Marchan, a Chicago mobster on holiday with his bodyguard Squash. Soon the king finds truth about Victoria and pursues her, but Victoria refuses to live like a woman. This worries Marchan since he doesn't want people to think he is gay. Victoria educated him about tolerance and with their on-off love, things ultimately fall in place for everyone with Toddy finding love in Squash and Victoria and Marchan getting together as well.
The film is quite a nice light comedy and has some really good musical numbers. Even for a person like me who is not into musicals, this was quite a watch. Julie Andrews is pretty darn amazing as a female pretending to be a male pretending to be female. This is not an easy character to play and she does a great job.Toddy is another great character and he is fantastic to watch . Together they both share an amazing chemistry and support system for each other. They have boundaries but standby. each other. Even with Marchan's character, even though he doesn't want to be judged as gay, is quite ok with the idea of his bodyguard being gay when he comes out. There are some very good sequences when Victoria questions/educates the king about sexuality etc. But above all this the film is about wit and style and performances. Everyone does their part with galore and i can see this film making a huge positive impact for gay community with wit and humour.
I can see why this film is counted as one of the cult classic films for gays around the world. (7.5/10)
Set in 1930s in Paris, aging Toddy is MC at one of the clubs. His male lovers are faithless and his career is at a standstill. A chance encounter with Victoria, a brilliant female singer changes his life forever. When she keeps getting rejected and finds herself starving in Paris, its Toddy who comes with a brilliant idea. He asks her to pretend to be a man and then play a female impersonator in a club. With her style she will become popular. Their bets pay off. They become best friends and we have a girl, pretending to man impersonating to be a woman. They soon become talk of the town and Victoria soon gets attention of King Marchan, a Chicago mobster on holiday with his bodyguard Squash. Soon the king finds truth about Victoria and pursues her, but Victoria refuses to live like a woman. This worries Marchan since he doesn't want people to think he is gay. Victoria educated him about tolerance and with their on-off love, things ultimately fall in place for everyone with Toddy finding love in Squash and Victoria and Marchan getting together as well.
The film is quite a nice light comedy and has some really good musical numbers. Even for a person like me who is not into musicals, this was quite a watch. Julie Andrews is pretty darn amazing as a female pretending to be a male pretending to be female. This is not an easy character to play and she does a great job.Toddy is another great character and he is fantastic to watch . Together they both share an amazing chemistry and support system for each other. They have boundaries but standby. each other. Even with Marchan's character, even though he doesn't want to be judged as gay, is quite ok with the idea of his bodyguard being gay when he comes out. There are some very good sequences when Victoria questions/educates the king about sexuality etc. But above all this the film is about wit and style and performances. Everyone does their part with galore and i can see this film making a huge positive impact for gay community with wit and humour.
I can see why this film is counted as one of the cult classic films for gays around the world. (7.5/10)
Comments