First Look At Xavier Dolan's 'Laurence Anyways'

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by Kevin Jagernauth
March 9, 2012 7:23 PM
2 Comments

While only "Moonrise Kingdom" is confirmed so far for the Cannes Film Festival, bits and pieces of other films likely headed to the Croisette are beginning to appear. This morning came word that both David Cronenberg's "Cosmopolis" and Jacques Audiard's "Rust And Bone" received May release dates in France, right in the midst of the fest and now, another film we pegged as a strong contender to makes Cannes has peeked around the corner.

The folks over at IonCinema have dug up the first images from Xavier Dolan's "Laurence Anyways." The young Canadian director is already a fave of the French set with “J'ai Tue Ma Mere” becoming a sensation of the Director’s Fortnight, and “Les amours imaginaires” (“Heartbeats”) playing Un Certain Regard in 2010, but his latest finds him sitting firmly in the director's chair without taking a starring role. Instead, Melvil Poupad, Nathalie Baye, Suzanne Clement and Monia Chokri star in the tale set in 1989, centering on Laurence (Poupaud) who reveals on his 30th birthday his secret desire of becoming a woman. His girlfriend is shocked, but agrees to stay by his side, and the next year Laurence goes back to working as a professor where he teaches literature -- only this time as a woman. A new life begins, but the weight of social stigma, family rejection and the incompatibility within the couple becomes toxic.

This is pretty heavy stuff for the filmmaker, who has already tackled complex relationships, but there are few directors Dolan's age who as bold and daring, so we'll be curious to see where he takes this one. No release dates yet, but we're betting we'll once again see Dolan on the red carpet.

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cathy | March 12, 2012 5:36 AMReply

I have seen his first two movies and I was very impressed by his director skills. He's got a great future ahead of him !
Now, I'm looking forward to his next film which you can learn more about and support here : http://www.touscoprod.com/project/produce?id=116 (It's a french website).
jingmei | March 10, 2012 12:19 AMReply

This Quebec dude is so young how he deals with such heavy subject matters? Melvil Poupad is a hot French guy.