Ma Vie en Rose (1997) (aka "My Life in Pink")

This French import will break your heart. "Ma Vie en Rose" is the story of an adorable and sweet little 7 year old boy named Ludovic who only has one dream, to be a girl. Of course, this leads him to want to dress and act like a girl. In his mind, he will one day soon be a girl. As you can imagine, this leads to many problems for him.

The story can be rather overly dramatic, overblown and slightly unbelievable at times, but director Alain Berliner offsets this with his marvelous use of color and of fantasy sequences. One of Ludovic's biggest problems begins when he falls in love with his next door neighbor boy, Jerome (Julien Riviere) who also happens to be the son of his father's boss. And here is where the film starts to get a little overwrought. The townspeople all band together against the boy and the family. It's quite traumatic and it, of course, causes the family to self destruct. They were on shaky ground anyway, what with Ludovic's stubborn refusal to behave as a boy and their middle class sensibilities. It can, sometimes, all seem to be too much. But to even out this angst, Berliner and co-scripter Chris van der Stappen spend most of the film giving us such vibrant colors and such amusing fantasy sequences that we are able to overcome this deep drama. The film is lush with reds and blues and pinks and greens and the piece is so able to takes us into Ludovic's fantasies that there are plenty of moments to relax and simply enjoy this film. So often, it's a visual delight, like a box of rich, vibrant candies for the eyes.

Of course, the main draw of the film is the superb portrayal of Ludovic by newcomer Georges Du Fresne, who can hardly be more than 7 himself. Thrust into a roll that would be difficult for a full grown adult, Du Fresne is awesome as the boy who would be a girl. His natural ease in front of the camera is highlighted by his cute face, his infectious smile and his innocent puppy dog eyes. Du Fresne dances through the film like a boy in love with life and his pain and suffering at the hands of "society" is so intense and so saddening, it's almost too harsh for us to endure.

Of course, his family, and their reactions and feelings, are paramount to Ludovic's story. "Ma Vie en Rose" does a wondrous thing by having the feelings of both the mother (Michele Laroque) and the father (Jean-Phillippe Ecoffey) evolve as the film progresses, though in opposite directions. So the one a bit understanding becomes less and less so as the film progresses and vice-versa. But Berliner also makes these parents human and their reactions understandable. It helps to keep the film and the plot in check. Meanwhile, Ludovic's sphere of family also includes 2 brothers, who struggle to understand; a sister (Christina Barget) who tries to cope and becomes, like her parents, more and more irritable, and a fun loving granny (Helene Vincent) whose story coincides with the boy's in some ways as she is an older woman who acts younger than she is. It's a very cleaver and useful plot device to juxtapose this situation with the boy's. Ludovic also deals with a supportive school teacher (Anne Cossens) and a rather quiet psychologist (Marie Bunel).

The film is also accented by a wonderful and fresh French pop music score which offers us a reason to enjoy the proceedings even more. These are especially fun when Du Fresne dances his cute dance to them. It's simply sweet and joyous stuff. Meanwhile, there are also nods to Barbie and Ken in a set of dolls which resemble the American duo called Pam and Ben. In Ludovic's mind, like that of a young girls, he'll grow up to be Pam and his little boyfriend will grow to be Ben. The odd looking but attractive Riviere, at first, seems so much like the perfect mate, the perfect Ben for Ludovic's Pam, but like others around him, the youth's friend soon evolves as well. Riviere is really as amazing as Du Fresne to be able to make such a remarkable transformation in character here.

Gender Identity Disorder is really a foolish name for a situation of life which has boys and girls exploring their sexual identities at a young age. "Ma Vie en Rose" examines the subject and exposes the problems associated with it as the pure ridiculous societal ignorance and idiocy that it really is. Maybe, here and there, it will be the kind of film that will be seen by a parent of a child with the situation. This should help them immensely. But, in reality, like most gay films with a serious message, the saddest thing about "Ma Vie en Rose" is that it's mainly simply preaching to the choir. Hopefully the pure charm and wonderful amusements in the script will catch the uninitiated off guard and then maybe they'll learn something.

Note:

Co-scripter van der Stappen is a lesbian writer who is represented by Chris, the young girl, on screen.

Cinematography by Yves Cape. Production Design by Veronique Melery. Costumes by Karen Muller Serreau.

Music by Dominnique Dalcon. Songs performed by Zazie.

Nominated for several awards, especially for Berliner's direction, it was the winner of many as well, including the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Picture.

Review written in 1998

Report Card

Script: A+

Acting: A+

Cinematography\Lighting: A+

Special Effects\Make Up: A+

Music: A+

Final Grade: A+