JOURNALIST: What are you looking for Laurence Alia?
LAURENCE: I'm looking for a person who understands my language and speaks it. A person who, without being a pariah, will question not only the rights and the value of the marginalized, but also those of the people who claim to be normal.
Hello everyone! I'm back this week with the brilliant Laurence Anyways by Xavier Dolan. I heard both positive and negative comments about this film as making a movie about a transgender person is never easy and can't please everyone. Before we start, I'd like to invite you to visit my previous posts about the LGBTQ+ cinema as I've picked the movies carefully for the Pride Month! Now, let's talk about our movie for this week and explore the characters more in-depth!
Laurence Anyways is written and directed by the great Xavier Dolan. It's important to underscore that Dolan made this film when he was only 23 years old! With its flamboyant dresses, buoyant colors, and kinetic scenes (1), Laurence Anyways remains a big achievement in Dolan's filmography. Although it got criticized for its running time of 2 hours and 48 minutes, I had no problem with the film's pace and even wanted to watch more when it ended.
The film tells the story of a transgender woman's (Laurence) relationship with her lover (Fred) over a ten-year period. Although simple, the love story between Laurence and Fred reaches deep into your heart and gives you an unforgettable experience. However, the depiction of Laurence's identity crisis was controversial among critics. While some of them saw it as a genius depiction, some found it to be incomplete and problematic. Let's talk more about what led them to think this way.
Let's start with Laurence, our protagonist of 35-year-old who announces that "he has been stealing the life of a woman he was meant to be" and begins the process of changing his gender (2). Throughout the film, we see Laurence's transition through the eyes of her friends, family, and most importantly her lover Fred. As she slowly starts to be comfortable with her identity, the main adversity she encounters is her relationship with Fred. Fred has a hard time accepting that the man she once loved has turned into a woman, and this behavior of hers sparked a negative reaction among viewers. In this review, the writer expresses their frustration over Dolan not researching transgender people before making this film. In said interview, while Dolan admits that he indeed hasn't researched about this topic, he emphasizes that "the story does not revolve around LGBT issues or sexual transition.".
Maybe the reason why the film received such negative comments is that people often search for a political message underlying a film. This, as Dolan puts it, is only a bittersweet love story between two lovers, and nothing more. The director clearly had no intention to give a political message to the viewers, and he doesn't have to because he's only a storyteller after all. I don't see it necessary to put a lot of effort to make it political, because it's not movies' duty to give a message to the viewer. The director might want to give it, that's perfectly valid, but people should also remember that it's okay not to give them as well. At the end of the day, movies tell us a story and introduce us to a new world, and it's up to the director to decide whether the audience will leave with awareness after finishing the film.
Taking a few calming breaths, I'm moving on to Fred! Fred is the said lover we see throughout the film and the one we are rightfully angry at. Ever since leaving Laurence because she "couldn't see the man she loved in her body anymore", she was unable to be happy with her new family. In one effective scene, Fred admits that she loves Laurence even more than her son after all these years, which I found very touching and heartbreaking.
Although it's hard to imagine oneself in Fred's position, I found her actions inconsistent at some point. At first, she seems to be accepting the idea of spending her life with a transgender woman and even saying that "the generation is ready to see it", but then she suddenly doesn't want it anymore and eventually gets lost. Fred has a complex personality, and this has clearly reflected on her relationship as well.
Slowly reaching the end of this post, I'm giving this movie a well-deserved 10 out of 10. There is a special thrill in watching a controversial film and giving it the highest score, so I'm proud of that :D! I'd like to recommend the amazing soundtrack as Dolan is known for his brilliant choice of music in his films, also this remarkable edit on Youtube that captures my favorite parts of the film!
I'd like to thank you a million times for reading this far, and you're always encouraged to leave a comment below and send me your suggestions to: moviesatdawn@gmail.com! You can also follow me on Instagram, Twitter, and Tumblr, all with the same nickname moviesatdawn. Thank you so much for joining me again and I'll see you next week!
LAURENCE: So... will you still love me?
JULIENNE: Are you becoming a woman or an idiot?
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