Lushly romantic and defiantly original, French-Canadian writer-director Xavier Dolan’s third feature film is about a man who loves a woman, then becomes one. French heartthrob Melvil Poupaud plays the title character, a heterosexual Montreal author and literature teacher who’s blissfully committed to film production manager Frederique, or Fred for short (Suzanne Clement). Turning 30, he reveals his desire for a sex change to her, and kicks off a rocky decade-long period of adjustment.
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Laurence Anyways opens here just as Dolan’s fourth drama, Tom at the Farm, premieres in competition at the Venice Film Festival. A former child TV star who turned to filmmaking in his late teens as a way to resume his acting career after boarding school, Dolan, 24 and openly gay, has been a festival darling since his debut feature, I Killed My Mother. He starred in that autobiographical coming-out tale, which won three awards at Cannes in 2009. He also starred in his follow-up film, Heartbeats (2010), a bittersweet comedy about a gay twentysomething, his best gal pal, and the Adonis who toys with them.
We don’t learn much about Laurence’s past, or the psychology of the transgendered. Instead, the movie focuses on the struggle to keep love alive under great duress. Fred is the first to crack; Clement’s furious outburst at a nosy waitress echoes Jack Nicholson’s diner meltdown in Five Easy Pieces. As Laurence’s makeover advances, Fred’s stress increases, and for a while she becomes depressed and frumpy. Oddly, the opposite is true of Laurence’s withholding mother (Nathalie Baye), who at first rejects her son, then welcomes the novelty of having a daughter.
Directed and written by Xavier Dolan Facets Cinematheque 1517 W. Fullerton 773-281-9075facets.org
