I Killed My Morther

2009, 93 minutes, Canada


Having enjoyed Xavier Dolan's Heartbeats, I thought I would give I Killed My Mother, his debut, a go. I had found his second film, although very enjoyable, it was heavily influenced by Y Tu Mama  Tabien and The Dreamers. I was expecting similar with this effort. Was I mistaken! I would have thought IKMM was the second film as it was a lot more confident, visually stunning and high in originality.

This film tells the story of Hubert (also played by Dolan) and the difficult relationship he has with his single mother (Anne Dorval). Him, an arty, gay 16 year old, is constantly on the war path with his vulgar, but well meaning, mother, who is struggling to fulfil her role as a single parent. He wants to be independent from the mother's nest and she wants her four year old son back. Day-by-day they are constantly arguing and results him being sent to boarding school.

The relationship between the two leads is an exceptional piece of character acting. It is reminiscent of arguments I have had with my mother when I was a similar age. Dolan plays Hubert as the selfish son who is prone to tantrums, especially when he does not get his way. Dorval is phenomenal as the struggling mother, who may not be the best mother in the world but she clearly loves her son. Just by looking at her eyes you can see the hurt when Hubert tells her that he hates her is so deep. The chemistry between the two characters is amazing and is up there as one of the best performances of recent memory.

Not only is Dolan talented as the leading male, his direction is superb. From beautiful forest shots to the scene where he paints the office Jackson Pollack style, the film is driven by beauty. The viewer is constantly amazed by what is presented visually and it always fits the mood of the film perfectly.

What makes this film even more amazing is that Dolan is 22 years old and directed this film when he was 20. Part of me is jealous of his talent and his career progression and part of me wants to marry him for his genius. Had I watched this without knowing anything about Dolan or seeing Heartbeats, I would still be just as impressed. Nothing was done wrong. To put this in context, it took Pedro Almodovar years to get exceptional, Dolan has done it in his first film. It really is no surprise that it received an 8 minute standing ovation at Cannes.

There have been a number of decent French-Canadian films of late, including C.R.A.Z.Y. and Incendies (which should have won the Foreign Language Oscar!). Dolan's work is leading the way and Quebec is becoming one of my favourite 'countries' for film production.

This film is meant to be semi autobiographical. Pictures of James Dean in his boyfriend's room probably represent Dolan's love of film from an early age. I just hope he has not given his best at the start of his career.

5/5 - An exceptional debut

Glamour of the Gods: Hollywood Portraits

National Portrait Gallery, until 23 October


As someone who is keen on learning more about cinema, I decided to go to this glamour exhibition of over 70 photo portraits of the stars of the screen from 1920s-60s. It featured actors, from Audrey Hepburn to Elizabeth Taylor and Charlie Chaplin to James Dean.

I have to admit my knowledge of film from this period is extremely limited but this did not ruin the display at all. It was amazing the glamour of the collection and how styles changed, especially in the women. There were some striking and popular images, such as Elizabeth Taylor in Suddenly, Last Summer and it was good to see them on a canvass. I also liked the display of who they airbrushed the pictures and shows, even then they had some work done.

Overall, the only let down was my knowledge. I wish I had seen more of the films but I hope to do this in the future. A worthwhile visit for any film buff - it closes soon so hurry!

Time Shift - Dear Censor

BBC Four, 29 September 2011


I was expecting my next discs but they have yet to have arrived so I have decided to review a documentary that is on BBC Four tonight.

Time Shift - Dear Censor is an excellent documentary on the correspondence between the BBFC and film directors. It demonstrates how society's attitudes change and how the film censors have to cope with the responsibility of determining what the boundaries in taste and decency are.

Rebel Without a Cause, one of my favourite films, was one of the first to feature because they felt the parenting skills of James Dean were poor and could negatively influence society. This seems ludicrous in today's films but clearly an issue of the time.

I was surprised there was no real mention of censoring homosexuality (the Celluloid Closet is a better resource for this). Women in Love was the nearest but was more focused on the first male full frontal nudity.

BBFC developed its role to allow potentially offensive films, such as the haunting but excellent A Clockwork Orange, to receive approval because they are a work of art. As a committed libertarian, I agree no organisation should limit films just because the majority of the population would be offended.

This principle was particularly tested with Salo or the 120 Days of Sodom, which is the most disturbing film I have ever seen. But the correspondence with Pier Paolo Pasolini made the excellent point that it is a film to 'turn off' abuse rather than 'turn on'.

I was very interested in more recent films, such as Shortbus, which have pushed the boundaries again. However, we are not allowed to see any correspondence from the last 20 years so I hope the BBC will do this again to uncover the concerns of more modern classics.

I really enjoyed this step back in time and it gives a good grounding in the history of film, how society has changed and how governments deal with controversy in art.

If you have access to BBC iPlayer, I highly recommend it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/