Although I keep forgetting to bring him up in any conversation about consistently great modern film-makers, Xavier Dolan is a young and talented individual who has crafted a number of brilliant films exploring love, sexuality, and gender. Laurence Anyways is another excellent example of his work, and another character study that is typically sensitive to the fluid and complicated nature of his leads.
Melvil Poupaud plays Laurence, someone we first meet in a relationship with a woman who goes by the name of Fred (played by Suzanne Clément). It isn’t long until Laurence has to make a confession, telling Fred that they cannot keep living a lie. Laurence wants to live life as a woman. Initially confusing his transgender nature with homosexuality, Fred pushes Laurence away and spends some time away from them. Not long though. She soon realised that she can continue to help and support someone she loves, and Laurence is going to need a lot of help and support as others take time to accept their transformed physical appearance.
Dolan is a writer-director who knows exactly how to present memorable characters who are portrayed both sympathetically and realistically. Neither Laurence nor Fred act perfectly here, with the former particularly problematic as she stops considering the lives and feelings of others while finally living as her true self, but they whirl around one another like lively electrons, sometimes bonding in a way that seems unbreakable and sometimes charging themselves up and hurling themselves away from one another. Both have to draw on reserves of courage for different reasons, and both can be admired for some of the battles they choose (although, as you might suspect, there is sometimes no choice given at all).
Poupaud and Clément are absolutely superb in the main roles, both giving performances that feel genuine and convincing at all times, no matter what is going on around them. The film stays focused on them, or at least stays focused on Laurence (anyways), but still has room for a smattering of wonderful supporting characters, whether they come in for one scene or are in and out of the movie throughout the runtime. Everyone is deserving of equal praise, but Nathalie Baye is an amusingly aloof highlight (playing Julienne, the mother of Laurence).
There’s a pleasant score by Eduardo Noya, credited as just Noia, a handful of excellent tunes on the soundtrack, and a constant feeling of energy and vitality that helps to make the lengthy runtime (168 minutes, approximately) go by without it ever feeling like a slog.
If you are new to the films of Xavier Dolan then this is as good a place to start as any, and it might even be his best work yet. But I would then recommend exploring everything that he’s done so far, especially if you appreciate this as much as I did.
9/10
If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share
No comments:
Post a Comment