Filmmaker Monia Chokri loves a zoom lens. Such is the fun aesthetic of her third feature The Nature of Love. Often the image jumps forwards or backwards, accenting an emotional moment with a punchy, visual exclamation point. It shouldn’t work, yet it does. The film stars Magalie Lépine Blondeau as Sophia, a 40-year-old professor in a comfortable marriage to Xavier (Francis-William Rhéaume). “Not unhappy,” she describes herself at one point. Early on, Sophia is intrigued and quickly entranced by Sylvain (Pierre-Yves Cardinal), the craftsperson renovating Sophia and Xavier’s country home. The affair is immediately sexy, exciting, and passionate.
Cinematographer André Turpin’s camera matches the excitement. When things are turbulent––be they good or bad––the camera gets a bit impatient. When things are stale, the camera gets a bit complacent. Consider one of the best moments of the film: Sylvain’s seductive introduction. The camera runs slowly down a corridor,...
Cinematographer André Turpin’s camera matches the excitement. When things are turbulent––be they good or bad––the camera gets a bit impatient. When things are stale, the camera gets a bit complacent. Consider one of the best moments of the film: Sylvain’s seductive introduction. The camera runs slowly down a corridor,...
- 7/8/2024
- by Dan Mecca
- The Film Stage
Exactly ten years after the genre-mixing, canine-driven Hungarian thriller “White God” landed the Prix Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival, this year’s ceremony culminated in the same prize going to a somewhat corresponding title: Chinese director Guan Hu’s “Black Dog,” a fusion of western, film noir and offbeat comedy with a highly lovable mutt at its center. The film, about a damaged loner returning to his desert hometown after a spell in prison and finding a kindred spirit in an equally world-weary greyhound, beat 17 other titles to take the top prize in the festival’s second-most prestigious competitive section. (The festival’s Official Competition awards will be handed out tomorrow night.)
Jury president Xavier Dolan, the actor-auteur behind such films as “Mommy” and “Laurence Anyways,” commended Guan’s film for “its breathtaking poetry, its imagination, its precision [and] its masterful direction.” He echoed the enthusiasm of Variety critic Jessica Kiang,...
Jury president Xavier Dolan, the actor-auteur behind such films as “Mommy” and “Laurence Anyways,” commended Guan’s film for “its breathtaking poetry, its imagination, its precision [and] its masterful direction.” He echoed the enthusiasm of Variety critic Jessica Kiang,...
- 5/24/2024
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
Canadian filmmaker Xavier Dolan is officially the 2024 Cannes Film Festival Un Certain Regard jury president. Dolan, who is a self-taught writer/director, made his feature debut at age 19 with “I Killed My Mother” based on his original short story. The film was chosen to represent Canada at the Academy Awards.
His work has repeatedly been featured at Cannes ever since Dolan’s 2010 sophomore feature “Heartbeats” marked his first entrance in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard program.
“I am humbled and delighted to return to Cannes as President of the Un Certain Regard Jury,” Dolan said in a statement. “Even more than making films myself, discovering the work of talented filmmakers has always been at the very heart of both my personal and professional journeys. I see, in this responsibility I’m assigned, the opportunity to focus with the members of the Un Certain Regard Jury on an essential aspect of the...
His work has repeatedly been featured at Cannes ever since Dolan’s 2010 sophomore feature “Heartbeats” marked his first entrance in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard program.
“I am humbled and delighted to return to Cannes as President of the Un Certain Regard Jury,” Dolan said in a statement. “Even more than making films myself, discovering the work of talented filmmakers has always been at the very heart of both my personal and professional journeys. I see, in this responsibility I’m assigned, the opportunity to focus with the members of the Un Certain Regard Jury on an essential aspect of the...
- 2/29/2024
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Canadian filmmaker Xavier Dolan is returning to Cannes Film Festival, this time to head up the Un Certain Regard jury as president.
A veteran of the Croisette, Dolan won the Jury Prize at Cannes with Mommy in 2014 and the Grand Prix trophy for It’s Only the End of the World in 2016.
“I am humbled and delighted to return to Cannes as president of the Un Certain Regard Jury. Even more than making films myself, discovering the work of talented filmmakers has always been at the very heart of both my personal and professional journeys. I see, in this responsibility I’m assigned, the opportunity to focus with the members of the Un Certain Regard Jury on an essential aspect of the art of film — stories told truthfully,” Dolan said in a statement on Thursday.
The Montreal-born director made his first entry in the Un Certain Regard sidebar with his second film,...
A veteran of the Croisette, Dolan won the Jury Prize at Cannes with Mommy in 2014 and the Grand Prix trophy for It’s Only the End of the World in 2016.
“I am humbled and delighted to return to Cannes as president of the Un Certain Regard Jury. Even more than making films myself, discovering the work of talented filmmakers has always been at the very heart of both my personal and professional journeys. I see, in this responsibility I’m assigned, the opportunity to focus with the members of the Un Certain Regard Jury on an essential aspect of the art of film — stories told truthfully,” Dolan said in a statement on Thursday.
The Montreal-born director made his first entry in the Un Certain Regard sidebar with his second film,...
- 2/29/2024
- by Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Cannes has named Canadian filmmaker and actor Xavier Dolan as the president of the jury for its Un Certain Regard sidebar.
Dolan has a long track record of premiering his films at Cannes. In 2010, his second film Heartbeats played in Un Certain Regard when he was just 21.
Two years later, Dolan’s Laurence Anyways premiered in Un Certain Regard where it won the section’s award for Best Actress ex-aequo for Suzanne Clément. Dolan won the Jury Prize at Cannes for his fifth film Mommy which played in main competition in 2014.
In 2015 Dolan was a member of the main competition jury at Cannes,...
Dolan has a long track record of premiering his films at Cannes. In 2010, his second film Heartbeats played in Un Certain Regard when he was just 21.
Two years later, Dolan’s Laurence Anyways premiered in Un Certain Regard where it won the section’s award for Best Actress ex-aequo for Suzanne Clément. Dolan won the Jury Prize at Cannes for his fifth film Mommy which played in main competition in 2014.
In 2015 Dolan was a member of the main competition jury at Cannes,...
- 2/29/2024
- ScreenDaily
Monia Chokri’s “The Nature of Love” has been acquired for U.K. and Ireland distribution by Vertigo Releasing.
The film stars Magalie Lépine Blondeau and Pierre-Yves Cardinal. In the film, the cosy married life of lecturer and intellectual Sophia (Blondeau) takes a bold new turn when she meets Sylvain (Cardinal), the ruggedly charming handyman at her new chalet and she embarks on a steamy and all-consuming affair.
“The Nature of Love” premiered at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard strand earlier this year and since then has played Toronto and Zurich among other festivals. It has its U.K. premiere at the BFI London Film Festival on Oct. 13 and will play Chicago post that.
“Female mid-life crises are not explored in this mode of storytelling as often their male counterpart: While the tragedy of the woman who f—s around and finds out is a mainstay of plenty of great literature and cinema,...
The film stars Magalie Lépine Blondeau and Pierre-Yves Cardinal. In the film, the cosy married life of lecturer and intellectual Sophia (Blondeau) takes a bold new turn when she meets Sylvain (Cardinal), the ruggedly charming handyman at her new chalet and she embarks on a steamy and all-consuming affair.
“The Nature of Love” premiered at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard strand earlier this year and since then has played Toronto and Zurich among other festivals. It has its U.K. premiere at the BFI London Film Festival on Oct. 13 and will play Chicago post that.
“Female mid-life crises are not explored in this mode of storytelling as often their male counterpart: While the tragedy of the woman who f—s around and finds out is a mainstay of plenty of great literature and cinema,...
- 10/10/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
In the article series Sound and Vision we take a look at music videos from notable directors. This week we look at several videos from Xavier Dolan, including the two he made for Adele. Xavier Dolan is quitting filmmaking, because according to him 'art is a waste of time'. The once-wunderkind turned enfant terrible of Canadian cinema made some excellent films in his active years, some slightly thorny and fickle ones and some clunkers. But I think his most impactful pieces of art are in fact his three music videos, all of which are to be found below. One...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 7/10/2023
- Screen Anarchy
The rom-com has always appeared to be in safe hands with French-language cinema, but Quebecois director Monia Chokri wanted to push the boundaries of the genre even further with her new film “Simple comme Sylvain.”
“French people like to talk about love but they always do it in the same way of toxic relationships. And there aren’t so many [rom-coms] made by women,” says Chokri, who was last in Cannes in 2019 with her debut feature, “A Brother’s Love,” which won Un Certain Regard’s Jury Cup de Coeur.
“Simple comme Sylvain” centers on a posh French-Canadian woman in a sexless marriage who turns her life upside down when she has an affair with her contractor.
The Quebec-born actor broke out in meaty roles in Canadian auteur Denys Arcand’s “The Age of Darkness” and Xavier Dolan’s “Heartbeats” and “Laurence Anyways.” She also acts in “Simple comme Sylvain,” playing her protagonist’s outspoken best friend,...
“French people like to talk about love but they always do it in the same way of toxic relationships. And there aren’t so many [rom-coms] made by women,” says Chokri, who was last in Cannes in 2019 with her debut feature, “A Brother’s Love,” which won Un Certain Regard’s Jury Cup de Coeur.
“Simple comme Sylvain” centers on a posh French-Canadian woman in a sexless marriage who turns her life upside down when she has an affair with her contractor.
The Quebec-born actor broke out in meaty roles in Canadian auteur Denys Arcand’s “The Age of Darkness” and Xavier Dolan’s “Heartbeats” and “Laurence Anyways.” She also acts in “Simple comme Sylvain,” playing her protagonist’s outspoken best friend,...
- 5/20/2023
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
How did John Cameron Mitchell become the head of this year’s Queer Palm award jury in Cannes? “Sexual favors,” he quips.
While the director of “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” and “How to Talk to Girls at Parties” (which played out of competition at Cannes) is joking, sexuality is at the heart of one of the world’s most prestigious LGBTQ+ film awards. And with more anti-queer legislation being enacted around the world than at any time in recent memory, the attention it brings to films that humanize this scapegoated population is arguably more important than ever.
“The Queer Palm, the festival and any awards help to dignify work, so that it often can be distributed and sometimes celebrated in its own queer-phobic country,” says Mitchell, who helped start a queer dance night at the American Pavilion in 2004 and DJs when he’s in town. “[The trans-themed] ‘Joyland’ was banned in...
While the director of “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” and “How to Talk to Girls at Parties” (which played out of competition at Cannes) is joking, sexuality is at the heart of one of the world’s most prestigious LGBTQ+ film awards. And with more anti-queer legislation being enacted around the world than at any time in recent memory, the attention it brings to films that humanize this scapegoated population is arguably more important than ever.
“The Queer Palm, the festival and any awards help to dignify work, so that it often can be distributed and sometimes celebrated in its own queer-phobic country,” says Mitchell, who helped start a queer dance night at the American Pavilion in 2004 and DJs when he’s in town. “[The trans-themed] ‘Joyland’ was banned in...
- 5/18/2023
- by Gregg Goldstein
- Variety Film + TV
Melvil Poupaud: "They are doing a little retrospective of my work at the Fi:af, French Institute, and I have a masterclass at NYU." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Nicolas Pariser’s The Great Game (Le Grand Jeu); Éric Rohmer’s A Tale Of Summer (Conte d'été); François Ozon’s By The Grace Of God (Grâce à Dieu); Charles de Meaux’s The Lady In The Portrait (Le Portrait Interdit); two from Raúl Ruiz, Genealogies Of A Crime (Généalogies d'Un Crime) and Treasure Island (L'Île Au Trésor); Zoe R Cassavetes’ Broken English, and Xavier Dolan’s Laurence Anyways will all be screened in Magnetic Melvil Poupaud.
François Ozon's By the Grace of God in Magnetic Melvil Poupaud Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
The CinéSalon series opens on Tuesday, March 7 with Carine Tardieu’s The Young Lovers (Les Jeunes Amants) at 7:30pm followed by a Q&a with Melvil Poupaud inside Florence Gould Hall...
Nicolas Pariser’s The Great Game (Le Grand Jeu); Éric Rohmer’s A Tale Of Summer (Conte d'été); François Ozon’s By The Grace Of God (Grâce à Dieu); Charles de Meaux’s The Lady In The Portrait (Le Portrait Interdit); two from Raúl Ruiz, Genealogies Of A Crime (Généalogies d'Un Crime) and Treasure Island (L'Île Au Trésor); Zoe R Cassavetes’ Broken English, and Xavier Dolan’s Laurence Anyways will all be screened in Magnetic Melvil Poupaud.
François Ozon's By the Grace of God in Magnetic Melvil Poupaud Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
The CinéSalon series opens on Tuesday, March 7 with Carine Tardieu’s The Young Lovers (Les Jeunes Amants) at 7:30pm followed by a Q&a with Melvil Poupaud inside Florence Gould Hall...
- 3/4/2023
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
After bursting onto the international stage with roles in Xavier Dolan’s “Heartbeats” and “Laurence Anyways,” and premiering her own directorial debut, “A Brother’s Love,” at the Cannes Film Festival in 2019, Quebecoise filmmaker Monia Chokri approached her sophomore feature as a kind of challenge.
Adapted from the 2017 play by author Catherine Léger, “Babysitter” — premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on Jan. 22 — marks Chokri’s first directorial outing working from someone else’s text.
“Taking someone else’s words and transposing them to images was a formative experience,” Chokri tells Variety. “[In doing so] I wanted to focus on my own directing, on how best to highlight and improve my work behind the camera. That’s where I could contribute deeply to the project, and could advance from a visual and technical standpoint.”
Diving into the source material — which tracks a proto-MeToo narrative as it follows a macho engineer Cedric dealing with the fallout...
Adapted from the 2017 play by author Catherine Léger, “Babysitter” — premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on Jan. 22 — marks Chokri’s first directorial outing working from someone else’s text.
“Taking someone else’s words and transposing them to images was a formative experience,” Chokri tells Variety. “[In doing so] I wanted to focus on my own directing, on how best to highlight and improve my work behind the camera. That’s where I could contribute deeply to the project, and could advance from a visual and technical standpoint.”
Diving into the source material — which tracks a proto-MeToo narrative as it follows a macho engineer Cedric dealing with the fallout...
- 1/24/2022
- by Ben Croll
- Variety Film + TV
New mini-theatre complex will mark Uplink’s third arthouse cinema in Japan.
Japanese specialist distributor-exhibitor Uplink Co is gearing up to open a four-screen cinema in the city of Kyoto, marking its third arthouse cinema opening in Japan.
Scheduled to open on April 16, the cinema will show arthouse films from around the world, as well as Japanese films with English subtitles for English-speaking residents and tourists in Kyoto. Each screening room will have a different design concept, colours and style.
The cinema will be located in the Shinpukan cultural and shopping complex, a redevelopment based on a historic building that...
Japanese specialist distributor-exhibitor Uplink Co is gearing up to open a four-screen cinema in the city of Kyoto, marking its third arthouse cinema opening in Japan.
Scheduled to open on April 16, the cinema will show arthouse films from around the world, as well as Japanese films with English subtitles for English-speaking residents and tourists in Kyoto. Each screening room will have a different design concept, colours and style.
The cinema will be located in the Shinpukan cultural and shopping complex, a redevelopment based on a historic building that...
- 3/5/2020
- by 89¦Liz Shackleton¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
Daniel Hendler, Vimala Pons, Melvil Poupaud, Sergi López, Françoise Lebrun and Eric Caravaca star in the cast of this Maneki Films production sold by Playtime. Santiago Mitre has now commenced filming in France on his 4th feature film (his first French-language work) Petite Fleur. This talented Argentine filmmaker previously made a name for himself by way of The Student (Special Jury Award in Locarno 2011) and Paulina (Cannes’ Critics’ Week’s Grand Prix in 2015), not forgetting The Summit. Starring in the cast of his new opus, we find Uruguay’s Daniel Hendler, France’s Vimala Pons, her fellow countryman Melvil Poupaud and Spanish actor Sergi López, not to mention Françoise Lebrun (The Mother and the...
Despite all her evident idiosyncrasies, there’s something familiar about Sophia (Anne Élisabeth Bossé), the focus of Quebecois debutante Monia Chokri’s comedy “A Brother’s Love,” which gets the Un Certain Regard sidebar of Cannes off to a springy if overlong and somewhat stumbling start. Sophia may have a PhD in political philosophy but she lives a remarkably unexamined life. And in that she is enabled by a co-dependent relationship with her attractive psychologist brother Karim (Patrick Hivon) which traps them both in an eternally arrested state of emotional adolescence. The familiarity springs from a realisation that the male version of Sophia’s character is such a common staple of the modern comedy as to be nearly a cliché: the lovable manchild whose emotional immaturity is actually part of his charm.
However these traits distilled into a woman by Chokri’s promising if overindulgent screenplay and Bossé’s admirably uncompromised performance,...
However these traits distilled into a woman by Chokri’s promising if overindulgent screenplay and Bossé’s admirably uncompromised performance,...
- 5/16/2019
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
There’s nothing like a rousing walk up the Cannes red carpet, flashbulbs exploding, plus lengthy standing ovations after the premiere, to feed a filmmaker’s hungry ego. Although the world’s most glamorous film festival can be reticent to anoint new auteurs before they are given credit elsewhere, each year’s 20 directors competing for the Palme d’Or each comprise a class photo of master filmmakers with a far reach; they know building your foreign profile improves global box office returns.
Cannes Film Festival director Thierry Frémaux and his predecessor, Gilles Jacob, have nurtured generations of working auteurs. Check out the IndieWire film staff’s countdown of 25 living directors who have thrilled and stirred us on the Croisette this century, undaunted by rigid festival etiquette and the massive international stage.
25. Lee Chang-dong
Lars von Trier may grab more headlines, but the real reason to get excited about this year...
Cannes Film Festival director Thierry Frémaux and his predecessor, Gilles Jacob, have nurtured generations of working auteurs. Check out the IndieWire film staff’s countdown of 25 living directors who have thrilled and stirred us on the Croisette this century, undaunted by rigid festival etiquette and the massive international stage.
25. Lee Chang-dong
Lars von Trier may grab more headlines, but the real reason to get excited about this year...
- 5/4/2018
- by Anne Thompson, Jenna Marotta, Eric Kohn, Michael Nordine, Kate Erbland, David Ehrlich, Chris O'Falt, Zack Sharf, Jude Dry and William Earl
- Indiewire
Xavier Dolan might be the most talked about director whose films barely have any U.S. distribution. Over a year since it debuted at the Cannes Film Festival, “It’s Only The End Of The World” is still without a U.S. release, while previous efforts like “Tom At The Farm,” “Laurence Anyways,” and “I Killed My Mother” all received very limited engagements.
Continue reading Luca Guadagnino Is “A Bit Suspicious” Of Xavier Dolan at The Playlist.
Continue reading Luca Guadagnino Is “A Bit Suspicious” Of Xavier Dolan at The Playlist.
- 10/4/2017
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit platforms. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.
David Lynch: The Art Life (Jon Nguyen, Rick Barnes, and Olivia Neergaard-Holm)
Before David Lynch was a filmmaker, he was a struggling painter, whose lifeblood was to “drink coffee, smoke cigarettes, and paint.” That’s what he dubbed “the art life,” and what an image – as featured in the many contemporary photos seen in this new documentary – it is, the bequiffed 20-something Lynch sitting back in his Philadelphia studio,...
David Lynch: The Art Life (Jon Nguyen, Rick Barnes, and Olivia Neergaard-Holm)
Before David Lynch was a filmmaker, he was a struggling painter, whose lifeblood was to “drink coffee, smoke cigarettes, and paint.” That’s what he dubbed “the art life,” and what an image – as featured in the many contemporary photos seen in this new documentary – it is, the bequiffed 20-something Lynch sitting back in his Philadelphia studio,...
- 6/30/2017
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
May kicked off the summer movie season, but June brings some studio tentpoles actually worth seeing (yes, we didn’t like that one everyone else did last month). Along with popcorn entertainment, there’s some of the finest independent films of the year, ranging from a long-delayed final feature from a late master to Sundance favorites and more. We should also note that, despite getting a release last year, IFC seems to be putting the Palme d’Or-winning I, Daniel Blake back in theaters this week, and we recommend seeking it out if you missed it.
Matinees to See: Past Life (6/2), Band Aid (6/2), My Cousin Rachel (6/9), Megan Leavey (6/9), Score: A Film Music Documentary (6/16), Maudie (6/16), Harmonium (6/16), The Journey (6/16), All Eyez on Me (6/16), Lost in Paris (6/16), Pop Aye (6/28), The House (6/30), and The Little Hours (6/30).
15. It’s Only the End of the World (Xavier Dolan; June 30)
Synopsis: It would have been a lovely family dinner.
Matinees to See: Past Life (6/2), Band Aid (6/2), My Cousin Rachel (6/9), Megan Leavey (6/9), Score: A Film Music Documentary (6/16), Maudie (6/16), Harmonium (6/16), The Journey (6/16), All Eyez on Me (6/16), Lost in Paris (6/16), Pop Aye (6/28), The House (6/30), and The Little Hours (6/30).
15. It’s Only the End of the World (Xavier Dolan; June 30)
Synopsis: It would have been a lovely family dinner.
- 6/1/2017
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
“The Death and Life of John F. Donovan” marks the first English-language film from French-Canadian director Xavier Dolan, the 28-year-old filmmaker behind such films as “Mommy, “Laurence Anyways” and “Tom at the Farm.” The film is set for release in 2018, and now we have photos from the set, released exclusively by Collider.
Read More: ‘The Death and Life of John F. Donovan’ Behind The Scenes Video: Xavier Dolan and Kit Harington Discuss Upcoming Drama
10 years after the death of television star John F. Donovan (Kit Harington), a young actor opens up about the written correspondence they once shared. Susan Sarandon plays John’s mother, Grace Donovan. “When editing, [during a shooting break] it became clear that the heart of this film would be the mother-son relationships,” Dolan told Collider. “And you, know that realization didn’t bother me. I could spend the rest of my life talking about mothers and sons and still be...
Read More: ‘The Death and Life of John F. Donovan’ Behind The Scenes Video: Xavier Dolan and Kit Harington Discuss Upcoming Drama
10 years after the death of television star John F. Donovan (Kit Harington), a young actor opens up about the written correspondence they once shared. Susan Sarandon plays John’s mother, Grace Donovan. “When editing, [during a shooting break] it became clear that the heart of this film would be the mother-son relationships,” Dolan told Collider. “And you, know that realization didn’t bother me. I could spend the rest of my life talking about mothers and sons and still be...
- 5/11/2017
- by Yoselin Acevedo
- Indiewire
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit platforms. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.
Evolution (Lucile Hadžihalilovic)
Near the beginning of Evolution, there’s a shot that hangs underwater, showing a seemingly harmonious aquatic eco-system that’s glimpsed just long enough to create the sense of something that, while somewhat familiar, is distinctly outside the human world. This fleeting image though shows the promise of the film Evolution could’ve been. – Ethan V. (full review)
Where to Stream: Netflix
Fire at Sea and...
Evolution (Lucile Hadžihalilovic)
Near the beginning of Evolution, there’s a shot that hangs underwater, showing a seemingly harmonious aquatic eco-system that’s glimpsed just long enough to create the sense of something that, while somewhat familiar, is distinctly outside the human world. This fleeting image though shows the promise of the film Evolution could’ve been. – Ethan V. (full review)
Where to Stream: Netflix
Fire at Sea and...
- 3/24/2017
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Close-Up is a column that spotlights films now playing on Mubi. Xavier Dolan's Laurence Anyways (2012) is showing March 18 - April 17, 2017 in the United States.In a 2012 interview, the great French actor Melvil Poupaud said of his meeting with Canadian wonderboy director Xavier Dolan in Laurence Anyways that it had been one of the great moments in his career. Poupaud had identified four directors that gave him the gift of transformative roles:Raúl Ruiz (in 1983’s City of Pirates, when the actor was only 10), Éric Rohmer (in 1996’s A Summer’s Tale), François Ozon (in 2005’s Time to Leave) and Dolan in what was then only the director’s third feature. Whether the Canadian will go down in history like the revered Ruiz and Rohmer or be more of a hit-and-miss journeyman like Ozon, only the future will be able to tell. But there is no denying that, ever since...
- 3/14/2017
- MUBI
Exclusive: Company scores sales on titles inlcuding Middleground, Petersburg, A Selfie, and Aestetik.
Fledgling Russian sales outfit Indie Vision, the arthouse label of Moscow-based Russian World Vision, has announced deals on its inaugural European Film Market (Efm) slate.
These include a multi-picture deal with Chinese outfit Hugoeast.
That agreement includes Alisa Khazanova’s romantic drama Middleground starring Noah Huntley, and Guillaume Protsenko’s Moscow-based thriller Wake Me Up.
Also on Indie Vision’s inaugural Efm slate (and already sold to Hugoeast) is Petersburg, A Selfie, a seven-story portmanteau pic set in St Petersburg and with seven female directors helming each segment. It is described as an anthology film in the vein of Paris, I Love You. One of the producers is Sergey Selyanov (Brother, Mongol).
Indie Vision has closed an unusual deal with Al-Jazeera on its animated short Listening To Beethoven, directed by legendary Russian animator Garry Bardin. The film screened in the Cannes Quinzaine.
The company...
Fledgling Russian sales outfit Indie Vision, the arthouse label of Moscow-based Russian World Vision, has announced deals on its inaugural European Film Market (Efm) slate.
These include a multi-picture deal with Chinese outfit Hugoeast.
That agreement includes Alisa Khazanova’s romantic drama Middleground starring Noah Huntley, and Guillaume Protsenko’s Moscow-based thriller Wake Me Up.
Also on Indie Vision’s inaugural Efm slate (and already sold to Hugoeast) is Petersburg, A Selfie, a seven-story portmanteau pic set in St Petersburg and with seven female directors helming each segment. It is described as an anthology film in the vein of Paris, I Love You. One of the producers is Sergey Selyanov (Brother, Mongol).
Indie Vision has closed an unusual deal with Al-Jazeera on its animated short Listening To Beethoven, directed by legendary Russian animator Garry Bardin. The film screened in the Cannes Quinzaine.
The company...
- 2/12/2017
- by geoffrey@macnab.demon.co.uk (Geoffrey Macnab)
- ScreenDaily
Xavier Dolan’s latest family drama “It’s Only the End of the World” made its world premiere at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, where it garnered polarizing reviews and won the coveted Grand Prix award. It spent all last year on the festival circuit, screening at the Toronto International Film Festival, the London Film Festival, AFI Fest and more. It also recently made the Oscar shortlist for Best Foreign Language Film despite not currently having U.S. distribution. Though it’s already been released in France, it will finally hit UK theaters next month. Watch the UK trailer for the film below.
Read More: ‘It’s Only the End of the World’ Reviews: Xavier Dolan’s Latest Is a ‘Total Misfire’
Dolan’s sixth feature film follows Louis (Gaspard Ulliel), a terminally ill writer who returns home after 12 years to announce his impending death to his family. It co-stars Nathalie Baye...
Read More: ‘It’s Only the End of the World’ Reviews: Xavier Dolan’s Latest Is a ‘Total Misfire’
Dolan’s sixth feature film follows Louis (Gaspard Ulliel), a terminally ill writer who returns home after 12 years to announce his impending death to his family. It co-stars Nathalie Baye...
- 1/12/2017
- by Vikram Murthi
- Indiewire
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit platforms. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.
American Honey (Andrea Arnold)
European directors have often faltered when crossing the Atlantic. Billy Wilder and Wim Wenders found things to say where Paolo Sorrentino could not. American Honey is certainly the former. Based on a 2007 article from the New York Times, it’s a backwater American road movie directed by an Englishwoman, Andrea Arnold, and shot by Irishman Robbie Ryan. We spot a few cowboys and gas stations and even the Grand Canyon,...
American Honey (Andrea Arnold)
European directors have often faltered when crossing the Atlantic. Billy Wilder and Wim Wenders found things to say where Paolo Sorrentino could not. American Honey is certainly the former. Based on a 2007 article from the New York Times, it’s a backwater American road movie directed by an Englishwoman, Andrea Arnold, and shot by Irishman Robbie Ryan. We spot a few cowboys and gas stations and even the Grand Canyon,...
- 12/16/2016
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
French-Canadian filmmaker, enfant terrible and cinematic wunderkind Xavier Dolan might have walked away from this year’s Cannes Film Festival with a Grand Jury Prize for his latest, “It’s Only the End of the World,” but that doesn’t mean he’ll be returning to the festival where he’s seen so much success.
Read More: ‘The Death and Life of John F. Donovan’: Ben Schnetzer Replaces Nicholas Hoult In Xavier Dolan’s Next
In a new post on his Instagram, Dolan says he will not submit his next feature, “The Death and Life of John F. Donovan,” to the festival, partly because it simply won’t be done in time, and partly because of the kind of “trolling, bullying and unwarranted hatred” he sees as part of the current critical climate. Check out his post below.
A photo posted by xavierdolan (@xavierdolan) on Sep 18, 2016 at 4:16am...
Read More: ‘The Death and Life of John F. Donovan’: Ben Schnetzer Replaces Nicholas Hoult In Xavier Dolan’s Next
In a new post on his Instagram, Dolan says he will not submit his next feature, “The Death and Life of John F. Donovan,” to the festival, partly because it simply won’t be done in time, and partly because of the kind of “trolling, bullying and unwarranted hatred” he sees as part of the current critical climate. Check out his post below.
A photo posted by xavierdolan (@xavierdolan) on Sep 18, 2016 at 4:16am...
- 9/19/2016
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
To date, only one of Xavier Dolan‘s films hasn’t screened at the Cannes Film Festival, the nifty thriller “Tom At The Farm.” However, the filmmaker has the Croisette to thank for helping his meteoric rise, serving as the World Premiere ground for all of his other pictures including “I Killed My Mother,” “Heartbeats,” “Laurence Anyways,” “Mommy,” and “It’s Only The End Of The World.” And while the reception to Dolan has always ranged from warm to ecstatic, things changed this year with the latter picture.
Continue reading Xavier Dolan Says He Won’t Be Taking ‘John F. Donovan’ To Cannes at The Playlist.
Continue reading Xavier Dolan Says He Won’t Be Taking ‘John F. Donovan’ To Cannes at The Playlist.
- 9/14/2016
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
On this day as it relates to showbiz history...
1858 Charles Darwin first publishes his theory of evolution. That one that caused Spencer Tracy so much trouble in Inherit the Wind.
1882 Tchaikovsky debuts his "Overture of 1812". It's still used in movies two centuries later in a truly diverse range of movies including The Iron Lady, Laurence Anyways, V For Vendetta and The Blind Side
1918 Novelist Jacqueline Susann is born. Her trashy best-sellers become hit movies and even turn Oscar heads: Valley of the Dolls (1967 best score nomination) and Jacqueline Susann's Once is Not Enough (1975, best supporting actress nomination)
1931 Fright haired boxing promoter Don King is born. Sixty-six and a ½ years later Ving Rhames wins the Golden Globe playing him in a TV movie. Remember that sweet but odd moment when Ving Rhames invited Jack Lemmon on stage with him to share the award he had just lost for 12 Angry Men? King's...
1858 Charles Darwin first publishes his theory of evolution. That one that caused Spencer Tracy so much trouble in Inherit the Wind.
1882 Tchaikovsky debuts his "Overture of 1812". It's still used in movies two centuries later in a truly diverse range of movies including The Iron Lady, Laurence Anyways, V For Vendetta and The Blind Side
1918 Novelist Jacqueline Susann is born. Her trashy best-sellers become hit movies and even turn Oscar heads: Valley of the Dolls (1967 best score nomination) and Jacqueline Susann's Once is Not Enough (1975, best supporting actress nomination)
1931 Fright haired boxing promoter Don King is born. Sixty-six and a ½ years later Ving Rhames wins the Golden Globe playing him in a TV movie. Remember that sweet but odd moment when Ving Rhames invited Jack Lemmon on stage with him to share the award he had just lost for 12 Angry Men? King's...
- 8/20/2016
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
Xavier Dolan’s latest film “It’s Only the End of the World” follows Louis (Gaspard Ulliel), a young man who has been estranged from his family for years who now returns home to confront them about his terminal illness. Tension runs high almost immediately when Louis sees his domineering mother (Nathalie Baye), his sister Suzanne (Léa Seydoux), and older brother Antoine (Vincent Cassel) and his wife (Marion Cotillard), many of whom have not yet gotten over his departure years ago. As the proverbial knife twists more and more, secrets are revealed, confrontations occur, and life gets in the way. Watch the first subtitled trailer below.
Read More: Cannes Review: Vincent Cassel Steals the Show in Xavier Dolan’s ‘It’s Only the End of the World’
At age 27, Xavier Dolan has released six movies in a span of eight years. His first film “I Killed My Mother” attracted international...
Read More: Cannes Review: Vincent Cassel Steals the Show in Xavier Dolan’s ‘It’s Only the End of the World’
At age 27, Xavier Dolan has released six movies in a span of eight years. His first film “I Killed My Mother” attracted international...
- 6/28/2016
- by Vikram Murthi
- Indiewire
In the director’s statement included in the press notes to It’s Only the End of the World, Xavier Dolan says he considers his sixth feature to be his “first as a man.” Manifestly tired of being called a wunderkind, the 27-year-old follows up his Jury Prize-winning Mommy with an adaptation of the play by Jean-Luc Lagarce. The solemnity aspired to in tackling this contemporary variant of the prodigal son parable is evident, and Dolan delivers a strident transposition of the stage piece to the screen. And while he does, to an extent, stifle some of his more adolescent instincts in comparison to earlier films (e.g. Laurence Anyways and Mommy), Dolan generally appears to have mistaken maturity for joylessness.
In the film’s prologue, the protagonist, Louis (Gaspard Ulliel), is sitting in an airplane and in voice-over explains that he’s returning home for the first time in...
In the film’s prologue, the protagonist, Louis (Gaspard Ulliel), is sitting in an airplane and in voice-over explains that he’s returning home for the first time in...
- 5/19/2016
- by Giovanni Marchini Camia
- The Film Stage
The claustrophobia of family has rarely been so well-wrought as in the latest highly stylised – and highly polarising – drama by the French-Canadian enfant terrible
Xavier Dolan’s It’s Only the End of the World is histrionic and claustrophobic: deliberately oppressive and pretty well pop-eyed in its madness – and yet a brilliant, stylised and hallucinatory evocation of family dysfunction: a companion piece in some ways to the epic shouting match that was Dolan’s earlier movie, Mommy. This is a pressure cooker of anxiety, a film with the dials turned up to 12. Watching it, listening to it, is like having your head in the speaker bin for a Motörhead concert.
That’s not everyone’s cup of tea. I’ve heard it denounced as “insufferable”. Dolan has made insufferable films in the past – his fey, musing films like the interminable Laurence Anyways, in 2012 – but this isn’t one of them,...
Xavier Dolan’s It’s Only the End of the World is histrionic and claustrophobic: deliberately oppressive and pretty well pop-eyed in its madness – and yet a brilliant, stylised and hallucinatory evocation of family dysfunction: a companion piece in some ways to the epic shouting match that was Dolan’s earlier movie, Mommy. This is a pressure cooker of anxiety, a film with the dials turned up to 12. Watching it, listening to it, is like having your head in the speaker bin for a Motörhead concert.
That’s not everyone’s cup of tea. I’ve heard it denounced as “insufferable”. Dolan has made insufferable films in the past – his fey, musing films like the interminable Laurence Anyways, in 2012 – but this isn’t one of them,...
- 5/19/2016
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Screen rounds up the films from across the globe that could launch at Cannes…
With less than a month to go until the Cannes Film Festival announces its line-up at its annual Paris press conference on April 14, Screen looks at what could make it into Official Selection and the parallel sections of Directors’ Fortnight and Critics’ Week.
UK and Ireland
The UK could have one of its strongest Cannes for years with hot favourites for a competition slot including Andrea Arnold’s Shia Labeouf-starring Us road movie American Honey and Ken Loach’s gritty Northern England-set drama I, Daniel Blake. It would be Loach’s 12th time in competition.
Ben Wheatley is also reportedly gunning for an Official Selection slot for his 1970s Boston-set, gangland thriller Free Fire, potentially Out of Competition or in Midnight Screenings. He was last in Cannes with Sightseers in Directors’ Fortnight.
Other UK hopefuls include Stephen Frears’ Florence Foster Jenkins and Indian...
With less than a month to go until the Cannes Film Festival announces its line-up at its annual Paris press conference on April 14, Screen looks at what could make it into Official Selection and the parallel sections of Directors’ Fortnight and Critics’ Week.
UK and Ireland
The UK could have one of its strongest Cannes for years with hot favourites for a competition slot including Andrea Arnold’s Shia Labeouf-starring Us road movie American Honey and Ken Loach’s gritty Northern England-set drama I, Daniel Blake. It would be Loach’s 12th time in competition.
Ben Wheatley is also reportedly gunning for an Official Selection slot for his 1970s Boston-set, gangland thriller Free Fire, potentially Out of Competition or in Midnight Screenings. He was last in Cannes with Sightseers in Directors’ Fortnight.
Other UK hopefuls include Stephen Frears’ Florence Foster Jenkins and Indian...
- 3/21/2016
- ScreenDaily
Juste la fin du monde
Director: Xavier Dolan
Writer: Xavier Dolan
During the substantial critical praise following Mommy (which tied with Jean-Luc Godard for the Jury Prize at Cannes, 2014) his fifth film in a six year period, the twenty-five year French Canadian director Xavier Dolan announced plans for an English language, Los Angeles set film The Death and Life of John F. Donovan. But following a flurry of casting news, Dolan announced he was delaying the title to shoot the French film, Juste la fin du monde (It’s Only the End of the World), an adaptation of Jean-Luc Lagarce’s play. Featuring an extravagantly notable cast, including Gaspard Ulliel, Lea Seydoux, Marion Cotillard, Vincent Cassel and Nathalie Baye (who returns to work with Dolan after 2012’s Laurence Anyways), the film concerns a terminally ill writer who returns home after a long absence to announce his death.
Cast: Vincent Cassel,...
Director: Xavier Dolan
Writer: Xavier Dolan
During the substantial critical praise following Mommy (which tied with Jean-Luc Godard for the Jury Prize at Cannes, 2014) his fifth film in a six year period, the twenty-five year French Canadian director Xavier Dolan announced plans for an English language, Los Angeles set film The Death and Life of John F. Donovan. But following a flurry of casting news, Dolan announced he was delaying the title to shoot the French film, Juste la fin du monde (It’s Only the End of the World), an adaptation of Jean-Luc Lagarce’s play. Featuring an extravagantly notable cast, including Gaspard Ulliel, Lea Seydoux, Marion Cotillard, Vincent Cassel and Nathalie Baye (who returns to work with Dolan after 2012’s Laurence Anyways), the film concerns a terminally ill writer who returns home after a long absence to announce his death.
Cast: Vincent Cassel,...
- 1/13/2016
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Exclusive: Singer in talks to make feature film acting debut for director of her latest single Hello.
Superstar British singer Adele is in talks to make her feature film debut in Xavier Dolan’s anticipated English-language drama The Death and Life of John F. Donovan.
The multi-platinum selling singer-songwriter previously collaborated with French-Canadian wunderkid Dolan on the singer’s music video Hello, which shot to number one at the UK and Us charts when released last month.
The singer has recently expressed a desire to act in movies and team up again with Dolan who is lining up his next film to shoot in spring 2016.
The singer recently told UK radio station Kiss FM: “I’m sure I’ll get some flak for this, but I actually would like to act after working with Xavier. I would be in a film for him, definitely.”
In the video for Hello, shot in a moody monotone, Adele sharpens...
Superstar British singer Adele is in talks to make her feature film debut in Xavier Dolan’s anticipated English-language drama The Death and Life of John F. Donovan.
The multi-platinum selling singer-songwriter previously collaborated with French-Canadian wunderkid Dolan on the singer’s music video Hello, which shot to number one at the UK and Us charts when released last month.
The singer has recently expressed a desire to act in movies and team up again with Dolan who is lining up his next film to shoot in spring 2016.
The singer recently told UK radio station Kiss FM: “I’m sure I’ll get some flak for this, but I actually would like to act after working with Xavier. I would be in a film for him, definitely.”
In the video for Hello, shot in a moody monotone, Adele sharpens...
- 11/11/2015
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
A Brooklyn Baby: Crowley’s Simple Immigration Tale Buoyed by Strong Emotional Core
Director John Crowley returns with Brooklyn, his strongest film in years, based on the well-received novel by Colm Toibin, and adapted by the respected pen of Nick Hornby. Recalling the emotional prowess of his 2007 film, Boy A, which similarly focused on the perspective of a lone protagonist, Crowley captures an expressive and emotional performance from Saoirse Ronan, weathering the simplicity of the sturdy narrative like a dependable, all-purpose frock. A host of well-known supporting players enhance the crowd pleasing tendencies, though sometimes in its lighter moments the films jumps the rails and slams into overdone sentiment or desperate humor. But the moments are fleeting, and quite forgivable considering the poise with which the film navigates the emotional arc of its lead character.
In 1950s Ireland, Eilis Lacey (Ronan) is able to secure a placement in a boarding...
Director John Crowley returns with Brooklyn, his strongest film in years, based on the well-received novel by Colm Toibin, and adapted by the respected pen of Nick Hornby. Recalling the emotional prowess of his 2007 film, Boy A, which similarly focused on the perspective of a lone protagonist, Crowley captures an expressive and emotional performance from Saoirse Ronan, weathering the simplicity of the sturdy narrative like a dependable, all-purpose frock. A host of well-known supporting players enhance the crowd pleasing tendencies, though sometimes in its lighter moments the films jumps the rails and slams into overdone sentiment or desperate humor. But the moments are fleeting, and quite forgivable considering the poise with which the film navigates the emotional arc of its lead character.
In 1950s Ireland, Eilis Lacey (Ronan) is able to secure a placement in a boarding...
- 11/4/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
As the Toronto International Film Festival wraps up its 40th incarnation, the winners of the festival’s 2015 event have now been announced. Previous winners at the festival have included Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave, Gareth Evans’ The Raid, and Xavier Dolan’s Laurence Anyways. Thus, many film fans have looked at the awards as an indicator of what to look out for in subsequent months when theatrical and VOD release dates get announced. The winners of Tiff 2015 are as follows.
Grolsch People’s Choice Award: Room, directed by Lenny Abrahamson.
Grolsch People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award: Hardcore, directed by Ilya Naishuller.
Grolsch People’s Choice Documentary Award: Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight For Freedom, directed by Evgeny Afineevsky.
Short Cuts Award for Best Canadian Short Film: Overpass, directed by Patrice Laliberté.
Short Cuts Award for Best Short Film: Maman(s), directed by Maïmouna Doucouré.
City of Toronto...
Grolsch People’s Choice Award: Room, directed by Lenny Abrahamson.
Grolsch People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award: Hardcore, directed by Ilya Naishuller.
Grolsch People’s Choice Documentary Award: Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight For Freedom, directed by Evgeny Afineevsky.
Short Cuts Award for Best Canadian Short Film: Overpass, directed by Patrice Laliberté.
Short Cuts Award for Best Short Film: Maman(s), directed by Maïmouna Doucouré.
City of Toronto...
- 9/21/2015
- by Deepayan Sengupta
- SoundOnSight
Australian director, Michael Rowe's new film Early Winter will have its world premiere today at the Venice Film Festival.
The film.s Australian producer Trish Lake is in Venice with Rowe and the two lead actors, Suzanne Clément (winner of the Un Certain Regard . Best Actress award at Cannes in 2012 for her role in Xavier Dolan.s Laurence Anyways) and Canadian actor Paul Doucet.
Lake said to be in Venice with such an international co-production between Canada and Australia at Venice Days was very exciting..
"There is already strong word of mouth on the film - a real buzz about it in the festival," she said..
"There were more than a hundred 100 media representatives who attended the first day.s press screening and, from what I understand, that is something of a record number for the first day of a Venice Days press screening.
.The fact that we have an Australian writer-director,...
The film.s Australian producer Trish Lake is in Venice with Rowe and the two lead actors, Suzanne Clément (winner of the Un Certain Regard . Best Actress award at Cannes in 2012 for her role in Xavier Dolan.s Laurence Anyways) and Canadian actor Paul Doucet.
Lake said to be in Venice with such an international co-production between Canada and Australia at Venice Days was very exciting..
"There is already strong word of mouth on the film - a real buzz about it in the festival," she said..
"There were more than a hundred 100 media representatives who attended the first day.s press screening and, from what I understand, that is something of a record number for the first day of a Venice Days press screening.
.The fact that we have an Australian writer-director,...
- 9/3/2015
- by Inside Film Correspondent
- IF.com.au
The enfant terrible of Quebecois cinema Xavier Dolan has made a name for himself among critics and festival audiences with such stylized, emotionally extravagant films as the epic trans romance Laurence Anyways and the in-your-face family drama Mommy. But it turns out he can direct a mean thriller as well. Well, sort of. Tom at the Farm, adapted by Dolan and Michel Marc Bouchard from Bouchard’s own play, has the outward trappings of a genre piece. And as such, it’s fairly suspenseful. But at heart, it’s still very much an Xavier Dolan film — ragged, explosive, and often moving.The story concerns Tom (Dolan, looking like he stole Meg Ryan’s hair from City of Angels), who arrives at the rural family home of his deceased boyfriend Guillaume to attend a memorial service. But he learns that Guillaume’s mom, Agathe (Lise Roy), doesn’t know that her...
- 8/15/2015
- by Bilge Ebiri
- Vulture
Read More: Exclusive: Watch a Clip From Xavier Dolan's 'Tom at the Farm' Canadian actor-writer-director Xavier Dolan is only 26 years old, but his growing list of achievements is as vast and accomplished as filmmakers three times his age. His 2009 debut, "I Killed My Mother," won the Art Cinema Award, the Prix Regards Jeunes and the Sacd Prize at Cannes' Director's Fortnight. His second feature, "Heartbeats," earned the top prize at the Sydney Film Festival in June 2010. After a two-year hiatus, his nearly three hour romance, "Laurence Anyways," won Suzanne Celement the Cannes Best Actress Prize, and last year's heralded masterpiece, "Mommy," tied for the coveted Cannes Jury Prize. These days, Dolan is at various stages in completing two star-studded dramas: "The Death and Life of John F. Donovan," starring Kit Harington, Jessica Chastain, Kathy Bates and Susan Sarandon, and the Marion Cotillard-headlining "It's Only the End of...
- 8/13/2015
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
There’s no doubt that Angelina Jolie is one of the most talented female directors currently working. She also happens to be a gifted actress married to a gifted actor. Her relationship with Brad Pitt has been very public, and they’ve taken on the arguable title of First Family of Hollywood.
These modern-day Hollywood royals will appear on-screen again for the first time since 2005’s Mr. and Mrs. Smith in By the Sea, written and directed by Jolie. The real-life couple star as two people caught in an unhappy marriage who try and resolve their differences in the south of France.
Set in the mid-1970s, By the Sea also stars Melanie Laurent (Inglourious Basterds) and Melvil Poupaud (Laurence Anyways). The trailer is suitably gorgeous, and we’re expecting lots of 70s-era French references.
Catch By the Sea in Cineplex theatres November 13th, and watch the first trailer below.
These modern-day Hollywood royals will appear on-screen again for the first time since 2005’s Mr. and Mrs. Smith in By the Sea, written and directed by Jolie. The real-life couple star as two people caught in an unhappy marriage who try and resolve their differences in the south of France.
Set in the mid-1970s, By the Sea also stars Melanie Laurent (Inglourious Basterds) and Melvil Poupaud (Laurence Anyways). The trailer is suitably gorgeous, and we’re expecting lots of 70s-era French references.
Catch By the Sea in Cineplex theatres November 13th, and watch the first trailer below.
- 8/6/2015
- by Amanda Wood
- Cineplex
Xavier Dolan, the celebrated young filmmaker behind Laurence Anyways and Mommy, took a brief detour between said films and crafted rural psychothriller Tom at the Farm. Though it’s taken some time to find U.S. release, Tom at the Farm is nearly upon us and distributor Amplify has put together a thrilling new preview. In the film, “After the sudden…
The post Tom at the Farm: Xavier Dolan’s Psychothriller Looks Great [Trailer] appeared first on Shock Till You Drop.
The post Tom at the Farm: Xavier Dolan’s Psychothriller Looks Great [Trailer] appeared first on Shock Till You Drop.
- 7/1/2015
- by Samuel Zimmerman
- shocktillyoudrop.com
Between "Laurence Anyways" and last year's acclaimed and Cannes prize-winning "Mommy," the prolific Xavier Dolan directed "Tom At The Farm." Like his previous efforts, it hit the festival circuit, but it appears the film's darker tone turned some off, and not much has been heard about the movie since 2013. It opened in Canada and other international territories, but a U.S. distribution deal proved elusive. But Amplify has finally snapped it up and a new U.S. trailer for the picture is here. Dolan takes the lead role in this psycho-sexual thriller that would make Alfred Hitchcock proud. He plays the titular Tom who, following the death of his lover, Guillaume (Caleb Landry Jones, in a very small uncredited role), goes to his family's rural farm for the funeral. But it turns out they didn't know anything about Guillaume's sexuality or partner. Tom doesn't out his former lover, but things take a dark turn when.
- 7/1/2015
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
Fandor is kicking off their Trans Spotlight with a video montage of Xavier Dolan’s stunning 2012 film, Laurence Anyways. Titled Love Bursts, this excellent video tribute by Kevin B. Lee highlights the gorgeous cinematography and set design found in what is without a doubt, the young filmmaker’s best looking film. Watch the video below, and be sure to check out Kyle Turner’s article, The Music Video Stylings of Xavier Dolan.
The post Watch a beautiful tribute to Xavier Dolan’s ‘Laurence Anyways’ appeared first on Sound On Sight.
The post Watch a beautiful tribute to Xavier Dolan’s ‘Laurence Anyways’ appeared first on Sound On Sight.
- 6/20/2015
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
Today, streaming service Fandor is kicking off Trans Spotlight, which, as you might guess, is a celebration of transgender films. Leading the pack is Xavier Dolan's terrific 2012 film, "Laurence Anyways." It received a very limited release, so there's no better time to catch up with the movie, and this excellent video tribute by Kevin B. Lee gives you all the visual reasons you need to check it out. Read More: Review: Xavier Dolan's Epic 'Laurence Anyways' Titled "Love Bursts," it's an appropriate reflection on the movie that tracks the relationship between Laurence and his girlfriend Fred, which undergoes upheaval when he decides to transition to a woman. Dolan tells his story with a gorgeous array of imagery, which Lee's video beautifully highlights. But it should also be noted that "Laurence Anyways" packs an emotional wallop as well, and that Dolan's effort isn't just an exercise in...
- 6/19/2015
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
It's nice to see the name Xavier Dolan becoming more and more recognizable among online readers. It means those of us that love his films have been advocating loud enough and you've been listening. Dolan's last film, Mommy, may be his absolute best (though don't make that decision before seeing Laurence Anyways) and he has a pair on the horizon that sound wildly intriguing, including his English-language debut, The Death and Life of John F. Donovan starring Jessica Chastain, Kathy Bates, Susan Sarandon and Kit Harington. However, while Donovan was, at one point, thought to be his next film, we recently learned he'd quietly lined up another film to shoot just before it starring Marion Cotillard titled It's Only the End of the World and today we have a first look at the movie via The Playlist. Inspired by the play by Jean-Luc Lagarce, the film will tell the story...
- 6/15/2015
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Exclusive: Punjab-set drama Fourth Direction to premiere in Un Certain Regard.
Elle Driver has picked up Indian director Gurvinder Singh’s tense Punjab-set drama Fourth Direction (Chauthi Koot) ahead of its premiere in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard.
Set in the Indian state of the Punjab at the height of the separatist Sikh uprising in the early 1980s, the film captures the atmosphere of fear and paranoia of the period and the impact of the violence on ordinary people.
Singh intertwines two loosely connect incidents, an attempt by two Hindu friends to get to the city of Amritsar, home to one of the holiest shrines in the Sikh religion, and a farmer who is told to put-down his barking dog.
It is a second feature for Singh after his debut picture Alms for a Blind Horse, which premiered in Venice in 2011.
Elle Driver has strong links with India’s independent film scene, having previously...
Elle Driver has picked up Indian director Gurvinder Singh’s tense Punjab-set drama Fourth Direction (Chauthi Koot) ahead of its premiere in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard.
Set in the Indian state of the Punjab at the height of the separatist Sikh uprising in the early 1980s, the film captures the atmosphere of fear and paranoia of the period and the impact of the violence on ordinary people.
Singh intertwines two loosely connect incidents, an attempt by two Hindu friends to get to the city of Amritsar, home to one of the holiest shrines in the Sikh religion, and a farmer who is told to put-down his barking dog.
It is a second feature for Singh after his debut picture Alms for a Blind Horse, which premiered in Venice in 2011.
Elle Driver has strong links with India’s independent film scene, having previously...
- 5/11/2015
- ScreenDaily
Take Xavier Dolan seriously. His Cannes sensation (and Oscar-snubbed) "Mommy" affirms that the prodigal filmmaker behind succès d'estime "I Killed My Mother" and the epic "Laurence Anyways" has, at 25, finally grown up. In "Mommy," Dolan wisely restrains his bravado and has never been more at home than with these three richly made characters: a scrappy and outrageously brave single mom, her smart yet deeply troubled teen with blond hair and behavioral problems, and the timid housewife with a speech impediment and secrets next door. French-Canadian powerhouse Anne Dorval, in a wickedly unhinged performance that already feels iconic, is Diane, the widowed mother of rage-addled Steve (fresh-faced youngster Antoine Olivier Pilon), a teenager too out of control for even the steeliest boarding school. Their unbalanced, smothering relationship seems on the verge of total chaos until a diffident neighbor (Dolan pal Suzanne Clement,...
- 5/4/2015
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Thompson on Hollywood
I’m not proud of this, but it took me 4 days to watch Laurence Anyways, and I should clarify that I didn’t watch the film in varying stretches over these 4 days, I watched it in one sitting. It’s just that that sitting wasn’t until the 4th day after I was originally supposed to watch it. Thursday night I had planned to watch the film by Xavier Dolan, which would be my first film of his, I hadn’t seen anything by him previously. I knew I wouldn’t have time to watch a near 3 hour film Friday or Saturday due to my work schedule, so it was either Thursday night or wait until Sunday night. It’s play instantly on Netflix, so I go to my account to watch it, and it’s at the top of my list, right there in front of my eyes. I...
- 4/29/2015
- by Dylan Griffin
- SoundOnSight
It appears Xavier Dolan has been busier than expected as not only is he preparing to shoot The Death and Life of John F. Donovan this fall, but Seville Films announced today he'll begin shooting It's Only the End of the World (Just la Fin du Monde) in May, following his duties as a member of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival jury. Inspired by the play by Jean-Luc Lagarce, the film will tell the story of a writer (assumed to be Vincent Cassel) who goes back to his hometown, planning on announcing his upcoming death to his family. As resentment soon rewrites the course of the afternoon, all attempts of empathy are sabotaged by people's incapacity to listen and love. Making up this cast along with Cassel are Marion Cotillard, Lea Seydoux, Nathalie Baye (who starred in Dolan's Laurence Anyways) and Gaspard Ulliel. "I'm absolutely thrilled about It's Only the End of the World,...
- 4/28/2015
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Joining the ranks of filmmakers with insatiable appetites such as Michael Winterbottom, Francois Ozon and Woody Allen, Xavier Dolan doesn’t take too much down time between projects. Taking a note from fellow Quebecois filmmakers (Denis Villeneuve and Jean Marc Vallee) exploring the international stage, The Death and Life of John F. Donovan will not be Dolan’s next project (still pegged for a fall shoot), but instead, the recently named film jury member will extend his stay in France post Cannes Film Festival for what will be his first international film production. Seville International announced that all-stars Marion Cotillard, Léa Seydoux, Vincent Cassel, Gaspard Ulliel and Laurence Anyways‘ Nathalie Baye will star in Dolan’s sixth feature film, Juste la fin du Monde (It’s Only the End of the World) with production beginning next month. The Canada-France coproduction sees Mommy producer Nancy Grant produce via Sons of Manual...
- 4/28/2015
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Lea Seydoux, Marion Cotillard, Vincent Cassel, Nathalie Baye and Gaspard Ulliel are all set to star in MK2 and Telefilm Canada's "It's Only the End of the World," the sixth film from young Quebecois filmmaker Xavier Dolan.
Based on a play of the same name by Jean-Luc Lagarce, the story follows a writer who goes back to his hometown when he plans to announce his upcoming death to his family. As resentment soon rewrites the course of the afternoon, all attempts of empathy are sabotaged by people's incapacity to listen and love.
Filming is slated to begin in late May and Dolan will shoot the project before he gets to work on his previously announced first Hollywood film "The Death and Life of John F. Donovan" starring Kit Harington and Susan Sarandon.
Dolan, coming off great praise for last year's Cannes entry "Mommy," has also directed the likes of "Tom at the Farm,...
Based on a play of the same name by Jean-Luc Lagarce, the story follows a writer who goes back to his hometown when he plans to announce his upcoming death to his family. As resentment soon rewrites the course of the afternoon, all attempts of empathy are sabotaged by people's incapacity to listen and love.
Filming is slated to begin in late May and Dolan will shoot the project before he gets to work on his previously announced first Hollywood film "The Death and Life of John F. Donovan" starring Kit Harington and Susan Sarandon.
Dolan, coming off great praise for last year's Cannes entry "Mommy," has also directed the likes of "Tom at the Farm,...
- 4/28/2015
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
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