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| Cage aux Folles director Édouard Molinaro dies | Cage aux Folles director Édouard Molinaro dies |
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| Édouard Molinaro, the French film director behind the pioneering gay farce La Cage aux Folles, has died at the age of 85 from lung failure. | Édouard Molinaro, the French film director behind the pioneering gay farce La Cage aux Folles, has died at the age of 85 from lung failure. |
| La Cage aux Folles, itself based on a play by Jean Poiret, starred Michel Serrault and Ugo Tognazzi as a long-term gay couple, one of whose children plans to get married to a stuffy politician's daughter. The pair must conceal their relationship when the prospective in-laws come for dinner. The film was released in 1978 to considerable box office success, in the US as well as Europe, and broke new ground in the mainstream acceptance of a screen portrayal of domestic gay relationship. It was remade in 1990 as The Birdcage with Nathan Lane and Robin Williams in the lead roles. | La Cage aux Folles, itself based on a play by Jean Poiret, starred Michel Serrault and Ugo Tognazzi as a long-term gay couple, one of whose children plans to get married to a stuffy politician's daughter. The pair must conceal their relationship when the prospective in-laws come for dinner. The film was released in 1978 to considerable box office success, in the US as well as Europe, and broke new ground in the mainstream acceptance of a screen portrayal of domestic gay relationship. It was remade in 1990 as The Birdcage with Nathan Lane and Robin Williams in the lead roles. |
| Molinaro's feature debut was 1958's Back to the Wall, a blackmail yarn starring Jeanne Moreau and Gérard Oury, though it did not make the same impact as Moreau's other film of that year, Lift to the Scaffold. After making more crime films through the 1960s, Molinaro turned to comedy and in 1967 had a big success with Oscar, adapted from another hit play, which starred Louis de Funès, who would become a regular collaborator. He subsequently had another late-60s hit, My Uncle Benjamin starring Belgian musician Jacques Brel. | Molinaro's feature debut was 1958's Back to the Wall, a blackmail yarn starring Jeanne Moreau and Gérard Oury, though it did not make the same impact as Moreau's other film of that year, Lift to the Scaffold. After making more crime films through the 1960s, Molinaro turned to comedy and in 1967 had a big success with Oscar, adapted from another hit play, which starred Louis de Funès, who would become a regular collaborator. He subsequently had another late-60s hit, My Uncle Benjamin starring Belgian musician Jacques Brel. |
| Molinaro followed La Cage aux Folles with a sequel, then tried his hand at English-language Hollywood comedy in the early 80s with Just the Way You Are. However, he appeared more comfortable in the French film industry, returning to make a string of TV movies and series. | Molinaro followed La Cage aux Folles with a sequel, then tried his hand at English-language Hollywood comedy in the early 80s with Just the Way You Are. However, he appeared more comfortable in the French film industry, returning to make a string of TV movies and series. |
| Molinaro's popular status in France was underscored by the release of a statement from the Elysée Palace on behalf of President François Hollande. Translated by the BBC, it said: "Edouard Molinaro possessed the talent for attracting a broad public to quality film. This film-maker, who had a rich and varied career, directed the greatest actors of French cinema while winning over the public, and winning the admiration of his peers, at the same time." | Molinaro's popular status in France was underscored by the release of a statement from the Elysée Palace on behalf of President François Hollande. Translated by the BBC, it said: "Edouard Molinaro possessed the talent for attracting a broad public to quality film. This film-maker, who had a rich and varied career, directed the greatest actors of French cinema while winning over the public, and winning the admiration of his peers, at the same time." |
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