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India Press Store - Ma Vie En Rose (My Life in Pink)
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List Price: $21.96
Our Price: $14.95
Your Save: $ 7.01 ( 32% )
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Manufacturer: Sony Pictures Classics
Starring: Georges Du Fresne, Michèle Laroque, Jean-Philippe Écoffey, Hélène Vincent, Daniel Hanssens
Directed By: Alain Berliner
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9780767803335
Format: Color
ISBN: 0767803337
Label: Sony Pictures Classics
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures Classics
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Sony Pictures Classics
Release Date: 1999-04-20
Running Time: 88
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics
Theatrical Release Date: 1997-12-26
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: A tender and innocent story on transgender in youth.
Comment: It's clear that this film is a departure from so many foreign film with children. The film draws on the innocence of Ludovic, a 7-year old boy, living in France, who believes he was meant to be a girl. After confusion whether he is a boy or a girl, he learns that girls have XX chromosome; he fantasizes that God made a mistake sending chromosomes into the chimney at his birth. He believes one X chromosome landed into the trash.
Ludovic thinks nothing of correcting the problem, not knowing what life holds for those family members affected by transgenderism. He doesn't hide his feelings for another young boy, his friend Jerome. It is Ludovic's family, and family's colleagues who are very uncomfortable with the problem when it becomes more serious enhanced by tension, fear, blame and guilt.
This is director Alain Berliner' debut film, and he touches the subject carefully, not to confuse homosexuality with transgenderism. Ludovic clearly believes he was meant to be a girl and doesn't confuse that with anything else; he is simply a child believing there is a mistake and he will have it corrected. Meanwhile, he escapes into the fantasy world of feminism and pink. The film, considered a comedy, doesn't quite live up to the comedic thread. It is tender, poignant, and sad. The child played by Georges DeFresne is said to have been an eleven year old playing a seven year old; he performs remarkably as his expressive eyes reveal innocence, confusion, happiness and sadness.
The 1997 film received the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film. There is nothing here that would be offensive to young children. It is something for all. ....Rizzo
Customer Rating: 
Summary: An unexpected suprise...
Comment: I didn't really know what to expect with "Ma Vie En Rose", but this film was an enjoyable surprise. It was interesting to see a 7 year old boy, Ludovic, go through a gender identity crisis. Ludovic truly believes he is a girl in a boy's body or a "girlboy" and tries to prove it "scientifically" by explaining to his parents about God's mistake of throwing away the extra X chromosome in the "trash". Pam, a beautiful doll reminiscent of Barbie, is a doll Ludovic admires and "daydreams" and "escapes" with. This movie had comedic parts, but also painful and heartbreaking moments. Comedic parts come from the consistent imagery of Pam and also the open-minded granny Elizabeth. Painful parts come from Ludo's attempt to kill himself in a freezer, the intolerance from his neighbors and the parents consistent attempts to "change" Ludo's "7 year old boy phase". Overall, this movie probes the idea of gender identity and does it in a light way. This movie isn't close to be as depressing as "Boys Don't Cry" because by the end, Ludo seems to be partially accepted by his parents. But it's interesting to see a different and lighter exploration of gender identity in youth rather than in adults.
-4.5 stars
Customer Rating:
Summary: Sweet Tender Look at gender in children
Comment: This french movie with subtitles is a sweet tender look at the story of a little boy who thinks he's a little girl or will at least become a woman when he's older, and the reactions of his family and community he lives in. It would be a good movie to reccomend to any parent of a transgender child or adult, as it not only shows societal discrimination, but even how a family can disown a child that is transgender. It also shows the fantasy world the lead character enters to escape.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Transgenders: More than meets the eye!
Comment: "Ma vie en rose" is a colorful, emotionally powerful film about a little boy named Ludovic who thinks he's a girl. Ludovic's favorite show is about Pam (a Gallic Barbie equivalent). She lives in a world of pinkness&he longs to join her. Ludovic's femininity-and his desire to be a girl-has devastating consequences for his family. At first, his mother tries to sympathize, but in the end she blames the family crises on him. His father remains withdrawn. For some, the "dominant mother/weak father" is proof that Ludovic is doomed to homosexuality,or at least it's his parents' fault (more specifically,his mother's) The family crises come to a head when Ludovic has a pretend wedding to a neighbor boy,Ben. The parents have a difficult time explaining to Ludovic why he can't marry a boy,since he considers himself a girl.
Ludovic's dreamworld is luminous, filled with pink,a joyous,colorful contrast to his dreary suburban home. In the end,he finds a friend in a very butch girl who looks like a boy. There is hope at the end.
"Ma vie en rose" addresses the "gender identity therapy" some children get if they're deemed too masculine (if a girl) or too feminine (if a boy). Some like Dr. Joseph Nicolosi have suggested that if fathers hug their sons a lot,their sons won't grow up seeking the amorous embraces of other men. When a mother worried that her son liked feminine things&cross-dressing,even Dr. Phil was thrown for a loop. He suggested alternating specifically masculine&feminine toys,and therapy if it didn't work. Dr. Phil is hardly a spokesman for Exodus International or PFOX (Parents&Families of Ex-Gays),but he was still baffled.
"Ma vie en rose" leaves the question-is Ludovic gay or transgender? Since he is still a child,perhaps this question is purposefully left open. This movie is worth watching for the issues it brings up,especially now that many teenagers and pre-teens are coming out as transgender.
Customer Rating:
Summary: It's A Wonderful "Life"
Comment: This is a really amazing film about a seven-year-old boy named Ludovic (Georges Du Fresne) living in France who is convinced that he is supposed to be a girl. He keeps telling his family that he will turn into a girl soon, and then he'll be able to marry the boy next door. He also keeps dressing up in girl's clothing and showing up in this attire at neighborhood functions.
His family is at first amused but their reactions quickly change as they realize that Ludo is very, very serious about this. Their situation is complicated by the fact that the family has just moved into a new suburban neighborhood where they just happen to live down the street from the father's new boss (who got the house for them). And "the boy next door" is the boss' son. One by one, the family members (except for Ludo's young-at-heart grandmother) turn against him, and the family dynamic begins to fray at the edges. Last to capitulate is Ludo's mother Hanna (Michèle Laroque in a FANTASTIC performance), who tries her best to keep loving Ludo throughout the ordeals he creates for them all simply by wanting to be who he thinks he is supposed to be.
The movie is very thought-provoking and it has an ethereal quality to it created in part by the lush colors (lots of bright shades of pink and green are found throughout) and the frequent forays into Ludo's fertile imagination. His inspiration comes from his Pam and Ben dolls (French version of Barbie & Ken, though I'm not sure whether they are real French toys or were just made up for the movie.) and he often pretends to be visiting Pam in her dream-like TV world, because that's the only place he feels 100% safe and accepted.
Overall this movie is well worth watching. It will definitely produce some moments of discomfort now and then because of its frankness and because Ludo's timing is so bad at times. The writing and acting don't shy away from portraying the struggle his family has to undergo in order to accept him. They never stop loving him -- it's just a question of acceptance. The film plays like Edward Scissorhands (Widescreen Anniversary Edition) meets Hedwig and the Angry Inch (New Line Platinum Series) (minus the songs) and it deals in an honest and often bracing way with the social stigma attached to gender identity. The DVD transfer is lush and spectacular, and makes this film an excellent buy in spite of the dearth of extras.
Oh and one note to keep in mind before you watch this: The subtitles have been cleaned up for some reason. "Tappette" doesn't mean "bent boy" -- it means f*ggot.
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Editorial Reviews:
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One of the sweetest films to emerge from Europe in the 1990s, Alain Berliner's Ma Vie en Rose is the story of an innocent little boy, Ludovic (played with noncloying directness by Georges Du Fresne), who wants to be a girl. Convinced that he's the product of misplaced chromosomes (he imagines the mix-up in one of many delightful daydream sequences), he sets about righting the mistake by wearing dresses and high heels and experimenting with lipstick and makeup. The otherwise friendly suburban neighborhood becomes horrified by the gender confusion, though tellingly the cruelest blows come not from the teasing classmates but intolerant adults: one scene recalls the torch-and-pitchfork angry villagers from a Frankenstein movie. Ludo tries hard to be butch, but he can't deny his nature, especially when he meets a kindred spirit: a little girl who gladly trades her dress for his pants and shirt. This bittersweet mix of innocent fantasy and childhood cruelty has its moments of sadness and crushing misunderstandings, but the overall tone is loving, filled with tenderness and culminating in acceptance and togetherness. As the family stumbles and struggles to come to terms with Ludo, they find something special within him, an innocent conviction so powerful and pure that it's infectious. Ludo may not grow up to become a girl as he hopes, but his belief is so strong it's hard to deny him the possibility. This films reminds us that, to a child, anything is possible. --Sean Axmaker
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