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.
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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? This week, we’ll take a look at the little-known La Cage Aux Folles II and see how fares stacked up against the legacy of the beloved original (spoiler alert, not very well).
The Set-Up
La Cage II picks up shortly after the events of the first film. Albin is still the headliner of Renato’s cabaret act, although his star seems to be fading. When Renato threatens to replace him with a younger and fresher Marlene Dietrich, Albin decides to station himself in a café in full drag—to prove to his husband that he could still naturally attract the attention of anyone he desires.
He seems to prove his point when a mysterious young man hurriedly approaches him and takes him to a hotel. But, when the man suddenly falls dead, Albin and Renato soon find themselves in the middle of an international conspiracy which forces them to hide, stay in disguise, and eventually flee to the Italian countryside as a group of spies attempt to retrieve documents that Albin unknowingly has in his possession.
Birds Of A Feather
Tonally, the film resembles its predecessor quite strongly. It plays into the narrative and comedic tropes of mistaken identities, double entendres, and simple misunderstandings that complicate the plot terribly; signature elements of both the farce, like the first film, and the spy thriller, like this one. However, La Cage II unfortunately lacks the strong bite and social satire that made the first so refreshing and instantly memorable.
The story and themes of La Cage are deeply ingrained in the characters’ queerness and gender expression. It is a critique of the social pageantry and needless restrictions of heterosexuality. For the sequel, it feels like they just lifted the characters and set them in an already-built narrative that had little to do with them. It’s a pastiche of spy comedies and adventure capers of the time with a convoluted plot that keeps the characters moving rather than indulge in the dynamics that the first one savored so much.
Dragging Out The Story
There are moments where the movie allows its to stars to lean into their chemistry and comedic chops, and those are the ones that work best.
Some instances call back to the plot of the first film, particularly when Renato takes Albin in drag to meet his mother in a remote village as they escape the network of spies, and introduces him as his wife. They must put up a charade to keep the act for her, and remain safe. But the queer elements of the sequel feel quite peripheral and bereft of any real substance, which makes for the most unfortunate comparisons to the charm, wit, and bite of its predecessor.
The Show Must Go On
This is actually not the only sequel to La Cage. There is a third installment of the series, too, titled La Cage Aux Folles 3: The Wedding, in which Albin must marry a woman and have a child in order to inherit a large family fortune. It seems to go back to the roots of centering family dynamics in the plot, and perhaps it feels more like an extension of La Cage than the second film.
Although it’s initially exciting to revisit old friends, La Cage II unfortunately misunderstands exactly what elements of the original made the world fall in love with it on a fundamental level. Lucky for us, La Cage has firmly established such a legacy for itself that is far from being tainted by the subpar sequel.
La Cage Aux Folles II is now streaming on The Roku Channel, and is available for digital rental/purchase via Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV.
Related*
Birds of a feather: 20 fabulous facts about 1996’s box office hit ‘The Birdcage’
From closeted stars to a very sly Madonna reference, here’s some trivia you might not know about timeless classic ‘The Birdcage.’
Jim
It’s oft-forgotten for a reason