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The Birdcage is a 1996 American comedy film produced and directed by Mike Nichols. Elaine May's screenplay adapted the 1978 French film La Cage aux Folles, itself an adaptation of a 1973 play. It stars Robin Williams and Nathan Lane as a gay couple whose son (Dan Futterman) is set to marry the daughter (Calista Flockhart) of a conservative senator (Gene Hackman) and his wife (Dianne Wiest). Hank Azaria and Christine Baranski appear in supporting roles. The film marked the first screen collaboration of Nichols and May, who had been a comedy duo in the 1950s and 1960s.
The Birdcage was released on March 8, 1996, to positive reviews and significant commercial success. It debuted at the top of the North American box office and stayed there for the following three weeks, grossing $185.3 million worldwide on a $31 million budget. It is seen as groundbreaking because it was one of few films from a major studio to feature LGBT characters at its center. The cast received notable praise and was awarded the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast. The Birdcage also received a nomination for Best Art Direction at the 69th Academy Awards.
Armand's 20-year-old son Val, who is the product of Armand's drunken one-night stand with a woman named Katharine, returns home to announce that he is engaged to be married to a young woman named Barbara. Although Armand and Albert are both less than happy about the news, they agree to support Val.
Barbara's parents are the ultra-Conservatism Republican Senator Kevin Keeley, co-founder of a conservative group called the Coalition for Moral Order, and his wife Louise. Kevin initially opposes Barbara's engagement. However, he soon becomes embroiled in a political scandal when the Coalition's other co-founder and Kevin's fellow senator is found dead in the bed of an underage Black prostitute. Louise convinces him that Barbara's wedding will shore up his image as an upright family man, but the Senator is concerned that Val's family will refuse to let it go ahead because of the scandal, and so insists that they cannot announce the engagement to the press until he's spoken to Val's parents and can be sure the wedding will go ahead. To this end, the Keeleys plan a visit to South Beach.
Barbara shares with Val news of her father's plan. To conceal the truth about the Goldmans, she has told her parents that Armand is straight, named Coleman (to hide that they are Jews) and is a cultural attaché to Greece. Armand dislikes the idea of being forced into Closeted, but agrees to play along, enlisting the help of friends and club employees to redecorate the apartment to more closely resemble a traditional household. Val and Armand attempt to keep Albert out of the house, but when they fail, Albert suggests that he will pose as Val's straight uncle. Armand contacts Katharine and explains the situation; she promises to come to the party and pretend to be his wife. Armand tries to coach Albert on how to act straight, but Albert's flamboyant nature makes the task difficult. Armand realizes that his plan will not fool anyone. Albert takes offense and locks himself in his room.
The Keeleys arrive at the Goldmans' redecorated apartment; they are greeted by Agador, who is attempting to pass as a Greek butler named Spartacus for the night. Katharine gets caught in traffic, and the Keeleys begin wondering where "Mrs. Coleman" is. Suddenly, Albert enters, dressed and styled as a conservative middle-aged woman. Armand, Val and Barbara are nervous, but Kevin and Louise are fooled by the disguise.
Despite the success of the evening, trouble begins when the senator's chauffeur betrays him to two tabloid journalists, Harry Radman and his photographer, who have been hoping for a scoop on the Coalition story and have followed the Keeleys to South Beach. While they research The Birdcage, they also remove a note that Armand has left on the door informing Katharine not to come upstairs. When she arrives, she unknowingly reveals the deceptions, leading Val to confess to the scheme and finally identify Albert as his true parent.
Kevin is initially confused by the situation, but Louise informs him of the truth and scolds him for being more concerned with his career than his family's happiness. When attempting to leave, he is ambushed by the paparazzi camped outside to take his picture. Albert realizes that there is a way for the family to escape without being recognized. He dresses them in drag, and they use the apartment's back entrance to sneak into The Birdcage, where, by dancing to Sister Sledge's "We Are Family", they make their way out of the nightclub without incident. Barbara and Val are married in an interfaith service that both families attend.
Among the changes that Elaine May added to the film's plot was renaming the character of Georges to Armand and Albin to Albert. She also adapted the plot line about the potential in-law characters as a conservative Moral Majority politician and his wife, to address right-wing anti-LGBT sentiment that was in the news at that time.
Nichols did research for the film by traveling with May and production designer Bo Welch to in Chicago and Savannah. After going to a drag show in South Beach at Welch's suggestion, Nichols decided to change the film's setting from New Orleans to South Beach.
Nichols originally conceived of British actor Adrian Lester in the role of Agador, but reworked the role after he and Lester came to a mutual agreement that showing a Black person in the role of a housekeeper would connote racist undertones. Hank Azaria, who was eventually cast, said, "I worked up different versions of. One was more understated, barely obviously gay, almost a street tough. And one was the character that ended up in the movie. Both felt real to me—I had grown up with Puerto Rican street queens who were very effeminate and flamboyant and others who weren't. I tried both versions out for a friend who was a drag queen, asked which one he liked better, and got his seal of approval."
Although filming primarily took place in Los Angeles, exterior shots included the Carlyle Hotel in Miami Beach, Ocean Drive, and the Art Deco District.
Although the studio had initial reservations about the film's politics, particularly its portrayal of conservative characters, Calley said, "Mike anticipated the eight or nine months ago. He said, 'By the time the movie comes out, you won't be able to parody these guys anymore; they'll be parodying themselves.'"
In addition to Sondheim's contributions, Tunick utilized popular dance and disco hits, such as Donna Summer's "She Works Hard for the Money" and Sister Sledge's "We Are Family", along with Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine's "Conga".
Film critic Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times awarded the film three stars out of four, writing that while the material will be familiar to those who have seen the original 1978 film or its Broadway incarnation, "what makes Mike Nichols's version more than just a retread is good casting in the key roles, and a wicked screenplay by Elaine May, who keeps the original story but adds little zingers here and there ('Live on Fisher Island and get buried in Palm Beach - that way you'll get the best of Florida!')".
In his review for The Washington Post, Hal Hinson noted the film's subversiveness, commenting, "While politicians like Keeley talk a good game of family values, it's Armand and his nontraditional clan who have the stable home life. They are a family."
Desson Thomson of The Washington Post described the film as "a spirited remake of the French drag farce that has everything in place, from eyeliner to one-liner".
Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly called the film "Enchantingly witty".
In Variety, Todd McCarthy called the movie "a scream", adding, "Just as in their routines when they were a team in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Nichols and May are at their best with political and cultural humor. A reactionary politician is an easy target, of course, but the digs at Hackman's public image-obsessed senator are relentlessly clever and on the mark, as are the jibes at unscrupulous journalists. Final exchange of dialogue, involving Hackman's character, brings down the house in the manner of the famous 'nobody's perfect' line in Some Like It Hot." McCarthy concluded, "Lane has all the showy opportunities as the ultra-feminine Albert, and this outstanding Broadway star, little seen up to now in films, makes the most of them, mincing, pouting, posing and cavorting to hilarious and heartwarming effect. Although the gay lifestyles on display here are decidedly old school, the characters' underlying fierce pride, along with the piece's resilient defense of an alternative family structure, will win over all but the most doctrinaire political standard-bearers."
James Berardinelli wrote in ReelViews, "The film is so boisterously entertaining that it's easy for the unsuspecting viewer not to realize that there's a message here."
Janet Maslin of The New York Times gave the film a positive review, especially praising Williams's performance: "...this is one of his most cohesive and least antic performances. It's also a mischievously funny one: He does a fine job of integrating gag lines with semi-serious acting..."
In his review for The Advocate, Lance Loud commented, "Taking on the conservative agenda—more prevalent in our culture today than when the original film came out in 1979— The Birdcage goes beyond mere politics." He concluded that the film's "underlying feelings of compassion, tolerance, and understanding are this Birds brightest plumage".
Criticisms from the gay community opined that the film contained broad stereotypes of gay people, particularly in its depiction of effeminate gay men. In The New York Times, critic Bruce Bawer wrote that the film reinforces stereotypes that "homosexuals are marginal, superficial creatures with plenty of disposable income and relationships that aren't as solid as heterosexual marriages". In response to the criticisms, Nichols stressed that the film is not meant to reflect the gay community as a whole, commenting, "Our jokes were about divas, about the theater, and about the stars. And some critics responded as if they were about gay people in general. That just isn't so."
The GLAAD (GLAAD) praised the film for "going beyond the stereotypes to see the characters' depth and humanity. The film celebrates differences and points out the outrageousness of hiding those differences." The film was also nominated for a GLAAD Media Award.
Many critics have said that the film's resonance is due to its core theme of family, its depiction of a loving, long-term relationship between two men, and the parents ultimately coming together to make their children happy. Nathan Lane commented, "Homophobia is still alive and well but there's something about that film that touches people because it's ultimately about family, what you do for your family, why you love your family even though they drive you crazy. Then ultimately — not to sound corny — it's about love. It's about love in both families and coming to accept one another in their differences."
For the film's 25th anniversary in 2021, TCM and Fathom Events screened The Birdcage theatrically as part of their Big Screen Classics series.
| 20/20 Awards | 2017 | Best Costume Design | Ann Roth | |
| Best Art Direction | Bo Welch | |||
| Academy Awards | March 24, 1997 | Best Art Direction | Bo Welch Cheryl Caraski | |
| American Comedy Awards | 1997 | Funniest Lead Actor in a Motion Picture | Nathan Lane | |
| Funniest Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture | Hank Azaria | |||
| Funniest Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture | Dianne Wiest | |||
| Funniest Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture | Christine Baranski | |||
| Art Directors Guild Awards | 1997 | Feature Film | Bo Welch Tom Duffield John Dexter | |
| Awards Circuit Community Awards | 1997 | Best Adapted Screenplay | Francis Veber Edouard Molinaro Marcello Danon Jean Poiret Elaine May | |
| Best Art Direction | Bo Welch Cheryl Carasik | |||
| Honorable Mentions | Mike Nichols | |||
| Blockbuster Entertainment Awards | March 11, 1997 | Favorite Supporting Actor – Comedy | Gene Hackman | |
| Favorite Supporting Actress – Comedy | Dianne Wiest | |||
| Casting Society of America Awards | October 15, 1996 | Best Casting for Feature Film, Comedy | Juliet Taylor Ellen Lewis | |
| Chicago Film Critics Association Awards | March 10, 1997 | Best Supporting Actor | Nathan Lane | |
| Cinema Audio Society Awards | 1997 | Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Feature Films | Lee Dichter Gene Cantamessa | |
| GLAAD Media Awards | 1997 | Outstanding Film – Wide Release | ||
| Golden Globe Awards | January 19, 1997 | Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical | ||
| Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical | Nathan Lane | |||
| International Monitor Awards | 1997 | Theatrical Releases – Color Correction | David Bernstein | |
| MTV Movie + TV Awards | June 10, 1997 | Best Comedic Performance | Robin Williams | |
| Best On-Screen Duo | Robin Williams Nathan Lane | |||
| Online Film & Television Association Awards | 1997 | Best Motion Picture – Comedy/Musical | Mike Nichols | |
| Best Actor in a Comedy/Musical | Nathan Lane | |||
| Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy/Musical | Hank Azaria | |||
| Satellite Awards | January 15, 1997 | Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical | Nathan Lane | |
| Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical | Gene Hackman | |||
| Screen Actors Guild Awards | February 22, 1997 | Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role | Nathan Lane | |
| Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role | Hank Azaria | |||
| Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture | Hank Azaria Christine Baranski Dan Futterman Gene Hackman Nathan Lane Robin Williams Dianne Wiest | |||
| Writers Guild of America Awards | March 16, 1997 | Best Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published | Elaine May |
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