Xavier Dolan Archives - Big Gay Picture Show

It’s Only the End of the World Trailer – Take a look at the latest from queer director Xavier Dolan

February 5, 2017 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

With the likes of Laurence Anyways, I Killed My Mother and Tom At The Farm, young queer director Xavier Dolan has become a favourite of film festivals and cineastes, although his movies have yet to break too far beyond that world. However, he appears to be making a few nods towards his film’s commercial prospects with It’s Only the End of the World, which for the first time in one of his movies has internationally recognised stars with Marion Cotillard, Gaspad Ulliel, Lea Seydoux and Vincent Cassel.

It has diluted his style though, with the movie winning two awards as Cannes. The film arrives in UK cinemas & Curzon Home Cinema on 24 February, so it’s a good time to take a look at the trailer.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘Prodigious auteur Xavier Dolan (Mommy) comes of age with his dazzling sixth film It’s Only the End of the World, based on the play of the same name by Jean-Luc Lagarce and featuring an all-star cast of top French actors.

‘After 12 years of estrangement, a writer (Gaspard Ulliel) returns to his hometown, planning on announcing his impending death to his family. However, his mother (Nathalie Baye), tempestuous siblings (Vincent Cassel and Léa Seydoux) and beleaguered sister-in-law (Marion Cotillard) have their own personal grievances to air. As buried resentments threaten to surface and fits and feuds begin to unfold, all attempts at empathy are sabotaged by the family’s inability to listen and love.

‘Winner of the Grand Prix at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, It’s Only the End of the World is a bold and stylistically daring melodrama performed with thunderous emotion. Taut, tense and packed with explosive performances shot in claustrophobic close-up, it further confirms Dolan as one of the most singular talents in world cinema.’

Incidentally his next film, The Death and Life of John F. Donovan, will have an even better known cast, with Natalie Portman, Jessica Chastain, Sarah Gadon, Kit Harington, Susan Sarandon, Kathy Bates, Michael Gambon, Thandie Newton and Bella Thorne all starring. [Read more…]

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DIRECTORS: Xavier Dolan

Natalie Portman & Nicholas Hoult Up For Xavier Dolan’s Death and Life of John F. Donovan

February 10, 2016 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Back in 2014 Jessica Chastain, Kathy Bates, Susan Sarandon and Kit Harington all signed up to star in the first English-language film from queer Canadian writer/actor/director Xavier Dolan. It’s taken longer to get it going than originally planned (largely because he slotted in the upcoming It’s Only the End of the World beforehand), but Dolan has managed to hang on to his cast, along with previously announced actors such as Michael Gambon, Bella Thorne, Chris Zylka and Emily Hampshire.

However, he’s decided that isn’t an impressive enough ensemble, as Variety reports that Natalie Portman, Nicholas Hoult and Thandie Newton have joined The Death and Life of John F. Donovan. The film is about an American TV star (Harington) with everything working out for him who has a secretive correspondence with an 11 year old in London. When a gossip columnist (Jessica Chastain) makes the whole thing look indecent, his life is turned upside-down.

It’s not clear who the newly announced actors will play, but it is known that Kathy Bates is set to be the actor’s high-powered manager, while Sarandon will play his mother.

Film rights are currently being sold at the Berlin film festival, with plans to shoot later this year.

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ACTORS: Nicholas Hoult, Natalie Portman, Thandie Newton, Kathy Bates, Kit Harington, Susan Sarandon, Jessica Chastain DIRECTORS: Xavier Dolan FILMS: The Death and Life of John F. Donovan

Xavier Dolan’s Gay-Themed Tom At The Farm Is Finally Getting A US Release

June 2, 2015 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Sometimes the movie world is a strange place. After its 2013 Venice Film Festival debut Xavier Dolan’s LGBT-themed Tom At The Farm got plenty of praise, including winning the FIPRESCI Prize, being screened in competition at all sorts of prestigious festivals and getting released in various countries all around the world (indeed, we reviewed it for its UK release in August 2014).

However for some strange reason it never reached the US, despite the fact Canadian filmmaker Dolan has a large international following thanks to movies like Heartbeats and I Killed My Mother. It didn’t even get picked up after Xavier won the Jury Prize at Cannes last year for his follow-up film, Mommy (which is also yet to be released in America).

Now though American audiences will finally get to watch Tom At The Farm, as Amplify Releasing has acquired all US rights to the movie and will release it on August 14th, 2015.

Dolan comments, “It’s hard to say it in a fully modest way, but I was truly puzzled as to how exactly Tom At The Farm had never landed distribution in the US. “To me, it was by far my most accessible film; I mean, it’s a 90-minute psychological thriller, and it’s sort of gory but then very conventional too. I’m obviously psyched that Amplify Releasing has taken Tom under their wing. But the topic remains truly relevant – can intolerance and psychological violence ever be dull? – and I’m proud to know the American public will be able to see it. And hopefully, like it.”

In Tom At The Farm, after the sudden death of his lover, Guillaume (Caleb Landry Jones, Heaven Knows What), Tom (Dolan) travels from his home in the city to Guillaume’s family’s remote country farm for the funeral. Upon arriving, he’s shocked to find that the family knows nothing of him- and was expecting a woman in his place. Tom keeps his identity a secret but soon finds himself increasingly drawn into a twisted, sexually charged game by Guillaume’s aggressive brother (Pierre-Yves Cardinal), who suspects the truth.

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DIRECTORS: Xavier Dolan FILMS: Tom At The Farm

Mommy (Cinema Review)

March 18, 2015 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Starring: Anne Dorval, Antoine-Olivier Pilon, Suzanne Clement
Director: Xavier Dolan
Running Time: 133 mins
Certificate: 15
Release Date: March 20th 2015 (UK)

Just when you think you’ve had enough of well-meaning films featuring disabilities and heroic struggles along comes one that completely restores your faith. Queer filmmaker Xavier Dolan’s film is a tour de force, an emotional power-punch that slowly makes its way into your head and then into your heart. It may deal with a lot of clichés but finds a winning way to tell its story.

Anne Dorval is Die, a handsome but tired-looking woman who has lost her husband three years ago and is now stuck with looking after her son Steve (Antoine-Olivier Pilon). He has severe ADHD, a problem when he is such a strapping lad on the brink of discovering sex, and he loves a drink, a smoke and a fight. Die rescues him from an institution where he has apparently started a fire, and she determines to make a new life for them both. But boy, is he a handful, constantly swearing, eyeing up girls and unable to sit still to study. [Read more…]

Susan Sarandon & Kathy Bates Join Queer Filmmaker Xavier Dolan’s First English-Language Film

December 9, 2014 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Back in September it was revealed that Xavier Dolan fan Jessica Chastain had signed on to star in the Quebecois filmmaker’s first English-language movie. Now she’s has some company, with the queer director ensuring that the film has plenty of impressive female talent by adding Kathy Bates and Susan Sarandon to the cast. Kit Harington is also set to star.

The new movie is called The Death and Life of John F. Donovan, which Dolan has previously described as “the story of an American movie star with everything working out for him who has a secretive correspondence with an 11 year old in London.”

THR expands on that, saying Kit Harington’s title character is famed for playing a popular superhero, ‘whose life and career are turned upside-down when his private correspondence with an 11-year-old fan is exposed and made to look indecent by a villainous gossip columnist (Jessica Chastain).’

Kathy Bates is set to be Donovan’s high-powered manager, while Sarandon will play his mother.

Dolan comments, “I’m so psyched about working with these two wonderful, mythical actresses. My excitement is almost convulsive.”

He adds, “Susan Sarandon’s role of the mother is tricky for me because it’s feels very real. The rapport my mom has with my life [since my profile has risen] — and of course I’m not as famous as the character of Donovan — is different now. I think all people can relate to this because whenever you walk out of the path that’s been traced for you, people from your old life find it a little menacing, because it questions their own worth.”

Dolan made waves when he won a prize at Cannes for his directorial debut, I Killed My Mother, which he helmed when he was only 18-years-old. He’s made four more acclaimed films since then (Heartbeats, Laurence Anyways, Tom At The Farm and Mommy), all of which have concerned the queer experience in one way or another.

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ACTORS: Kathy Bates, Kit Harington, Susan Sarandon, Jessica Chastain DIRECTORS: Xavier Dolan FILMS: The Death and Life of John F. Donovan

Jessica Chastain Circling Queer Filmmaker Xavier Dolan’s English Language Debut

September 12, 2014 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Xavier Dolan has been making waves in the art movie world for the last few years, with many expecting him to becoming a major force in filmmaking ever since he won a prize at Cannes for his directorial debut, I Killed My Mother, which he helmed when he was only 18-years-old.

He’s made four more acclaimed films since then (Heartbeats, Laurence Anyways, Tom At The Farm and Mommy), all if which have concerned the LGBT experience in one way or another, but he’s stuck to his French-Canadian roots by avoiding the English language. That’s going to change though, as Bent reports he readying his first English-language effort and Jessica Chastain is circling to star.

She seems to be a bit of a fan of the filmmaker, as back in May after watching Dolan’s latest movie, Mommy, she tweeted, ‘Completely blown away by @XDolan. His film, MOMMY was so impressive’.

The new movie is called The Death and Life of John F. Donovan, which Dolan has described as “the story of an American movie star with everything working out for him who has a secretive correspondence with an 11 year old in London.”

Dolan tells Bent, “It was this friend of mine – a journalist – who had brought to my attention that Jessica Chastain had seen ‘Mommy’ in Cannes and had liked it and tweeted about it. I went back and scrolled down the tweets and there was this lovely tweet where Jessica was saying that she had liked ‘Mommy.'”

‘It dawned on me that I should ask Jessica about playing the ‘villain’ role in ‘John F. Donovan. There is this character of the editor-in-chief of a gossip magazine. The movie really is a satire of the business — more dramatic than humorous. And there’s this antagonistic figure that wants to ruin the lives of every star, especially that of the lead character. And I reached out to Jessica and she read the script. She loved it, and we got along like hotcakes. That’s basically it. I can already foresee all the pleasure we’ll have working together.”

Assuming it all works out with scheduling, Chastain will be on the set when shooting kicks off in Montreal, New York, Miami, England and Eastern Europe next year.

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ACTORS: Jessica Chastain DIRECTORS: Xavier Dolan FILMS: The Death and Life of John F. Donovan

Tom At The Farm (DVD Review)

August 24, 2014 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Starring: Xavier Dolan, Pierre-Yves Cardinal, Lise Roy
Director: Xavier Dolan
Running Time: 105 mins
Certificate: 15
Release Date: April 4th 2014 (Cinema), August 18th 2014 (DVD/Blu-ray)

This is Xavier Dolan’s fourth film as a director, and he’s still only 25. It’s difficult to know whether to be impressed or whether to dislike him on principle. Indeed that’s true of much about Dolan – he has a supreme confidence that is simultaneously exciting and a little exasperating, his grasp of plot and theme is both engrossing and frustratingly underdeveloped, and he manages to imbue his films with a hipster vibe that is too pleased with itself and yet gives his films an unexpected vibrancy.

Mommy Trailer – Take a look at queer filmmaker Xavier Dolan’s Cannes prize-winning movie

July 18, 2014 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Back in May Canadian wunderkind Xavier Dolan – he’s directed five movies and he’s still only 25 – picked up and Cannes Jury Prize for his latest film, Mommy (although he missed out on the Queer Palm for the best LGBT-themed movie at the festival).

Just to show what a precocious scamp the young man is, Dolan picked up the Queer Palm a couple of years ago for Laurence Anyways, and also won two awards at Cannes for his directorial debut, I Killed My Mother, which he helmed when he was just 18.

Now a first trailer for the movie has arrived, which you can see below.

In Mommy, ‘A widowed single mom finds herself burdened with the full-time custody of her explosive 15-year-old ADHD son. As they try to make ends meet and struggle with their impetuous and unpredictable ménage, the new girl across the street, Kyla, benevolently offers needed support. Together, they find a new sense of balance, and hope is regained.’ [Read more…]

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DIRECTORS: Xavier Dolan FILMS: Mommy

Queer Filmmaker Xavier Dolan Picks Up Jury Prize At Cannes For Mommy

May 26, 2014 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Xavier Dolan may have missed out on the Queer Palm at Cannes for Mommy (that award went to the Brit flick Pride), but at the main awards ceremony he had more to smile about, as his movie tied for the Jury Prize with Jean-Luc Godard’s Goodbye To Language.

And Godard is certainly not bad company to be in! Some have already commented on whether it’s Cannes almost passing the baton, as the precocious Dolan is often said to be one of the most interesting new voices, while Goodbye To Language may be the legendary Godard’s final film.

25-year-old queer filmmaker Dolan previously picked up the Queer Palm a couple of years ago for Laurence Anyways, and two awards at Cannes for his directorial debut, I Killed My Mother.

He wasn’t the only 2014 winner though, as Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s Winter Sleep picked up the big prize, the Palm d’Or. Bennett Miller added to the excellent reviews for Foxcatcher with a Best Director win, while Julianne Moore picked up Best Actress for David Cronenberg’s Map To The Stars. The wonderful Timothy Spall meanwhile, won Best Actor for Mike Leigh’s Mr. Turner. [Read more…]

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ACTORS: Julianne, Moore, Timothy Spall DIRECTORS: Xavier Dolan, Bennett Miller FILMS: Mommy

Tom At The Farm (Tom à la ferme) (Cinema/DVD)

April 6, 2014 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

All that’s true of Tom At The Farm, even if it is a bit of a sidestep from his earlier movies into the world of the psychosexual thriller. [Read more…]