Ma Vie en Rose

Seven-year-old Ludovic (Georges Du Fresne) is pretty sure he’s really a girl. After all, he loves to wear dresses, and he wants to marry his friend Jerome once he’s “not a boy any more.” His parents try to understand but are increasingly baffled and embarrassed by their stubborn “girlboy” child. Is Ludovic actually just gay, or is he transgendered? This is the sort of sweet, kind-hearted comedy Hollywood seems less and less capable of; leave it to the French to find beauty and redemption in gender confusion. (It’s miles beyond most any English-speaking film I’ve seen on the subject.) I would think only the most steadfastly bigoted viewer wouldn’t root for Ludovic to be whatever s/he wants to be regardless of the scorn of parents and classmates. I also shudder at the thought of Hollywood attempting to remake this; it would probably turn out something like Shirley MacLaine’s direct-to-Starz directorial debut The Dress Code.

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