Is the oft-forgotten ‘La Cage Aux Folles’ sequel a fun summer fling, or another trip not worth taking?
Welcome back to our queer film retrospective, “A Gay Old Time.” In this week’s column, we’re revisiting a gay comedy sequel that often gets forgotten: 1980’s La Cage Aux Folles II.There are a handful of films that have been strictly cemented in the queer pantheon of cinema; movies that spoke boldly and directly to our issues and sensibilities.
Undoubtedly, one of these films is 1978’s La Cage Aux Folles. The slapstick comedy—based on the play of the same name by Jean Poiret—followed Renato (Ugo Tognazzi), the owner of a cabaret nightclub in the French Riviera, and Albin (Michel Serrault), his husband headlining the club as drag superstar “Zaza Napoli,” who must put up a heteronormative act when their son brings the ultra-conservative parents of his new fiancée to meet them.Subscribe to our newsletter for your front-row seat to all things entertainment with a sprinkle of everything else queer.La Cage became an instant hit with both audiences and critics.
It was the highest grossing foreign language film in the US at the time, and was nominated for three Academy Awards. Of course, it was also later adapted into a stage musical and the 1996 Mike Nichols film The Birdcage, starring Robin Williams and Nathan Lane, which became just as iconic and beloved—perhaps even more!Now, it’s no easy feat cementing your film as a staple of the queer canon, let alone three times over.
However, La Cage’s legacy doesn’t stop there. Did you know there’s a sequel movie that continues the adventures of Renato and Albin, this time in a spy crusade across Europe?
