The volunteer reading his introduction script prior to the screening of Turtles spelled it out succinctly and correctly: “You will feel many a thing watching this film,” he said, which is a fair preview.
Turtles rests its foundation on a fairytale scenario, some would (and did) say a contrived one. In the midst of the AIDS pandemic in the 1980s, an English drag-queen named Thom quit his job and emigrated to France to marry his true love. This was made affordable only because a (dying) angel of a friend gave them the deeds to an inherited townhouse smack in the middle of Paris on a single condition – that they raise/keep two box turtles named Topsy and Turvy so long as they live in the house together.
Let it be said that the Gendarmerie has no time to check-in on the health of aging turtles, reptilian or otherwise, to enforce such a contract. The taboos around homosexuality were purposefully countered by these equally absurd setpieces. And this allowed the film to focus squarely on the evolving love between these two people, 35 years on. I became an instant fan of this film the moment Siri was asked to play Ottawan’s “Hands Up (Give Me Your Heart)” as an ode to love while the drag-queen in his sixties danced to entice his husband, who is recently retired from both job and love.
Suffice it to say that Turtles narrates a divorce, but one wherein the French judiciary system is made a mockery of. The ensemble of lawyers, judges, and bystanders displayed a LOT of patience as the courtroom became no more solemn than a 100 square-foot kitchen replete with domestic highs and lows. Thom desperately tried every trick in the book to reboot his Henri back into their lives including giving up for good and going back to his glory-days as a drag-queen, complete with wrinkles under his belt. It is funny, tear-jerking, momentarily grotesque, but always warm. I don’t know if the bilingual angle has any metaphorical meaning other than a Canadian nod, but it does not hinder the film. If you are not a homophobe, I highly recommend the film. And if you are, watch and learn some top-notch empathy from Madam Justice.