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Seen at...
Mommy
- Director: Xavier Dolan
- Writer: Xavier Dolan
- Producer: Sylvain Corbeil; Xavier Dolan
CGiii Comment
Xavier Dolan - a marmite director. Love him, hate him - he is difficult to ignore.
We have not been kind to Monsieur Dolan...well, we eat our hats, his precocity has finally met with maturity...heralding a unique voice in cinema.
Mommy is a tour-de-force.
The first 20 minutes (or so) are difficult...there are a few obstacles to contend with: the aspect (1:1), the language (most foul), the high-octane performances, the intensity...stick with it...it will suck you in. And, it won't let you go.
When the moment of clarity arrives...tears (in abundance) will stream down your face. A joyous cinematic moment.
The film is punctuated with red herrings - it could end abruptly (but, satisfactorily) at several points - but, Dolan pushes on...the music makes you feel what he wants you to feel...and, by God, do you feel it.
By the end...exhausted, enlightened, enthralled.
Two things that you will take away from Mommy: Anne Dorval's performance and Antoine-Olivier Pilon's smile...I'm still wiping away the tears.
Merci, Monsieur Dolan.
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
Forty-six year old Diane Després - "Die" - has been widowed for three years. Considered white trash by many, Die does whatever she needs, including strutting her body in front of male employers who will look, to make an honest living. That bread-winning ability is affected when she makes the decision to remove her only offspring, fifteen year old Steve Després, from her previously imposed institutionalization, one step below juvenile detention. She institutionalized him shortly following her husband's death due to Steve's attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and his violent outbursts. He was just kicked out of the latest in a long line of facilities for setting fire to the cafeteria, in turn injuring another boy. She made this decision to deinstitutionalize him as she didn't like the alternative, sending him into more restrictive juvenile detention from which he would probably never be rehabilitated. However, with this deinstitutionalization, she has to take care of him...
Cast & Characters
Anne Dorval as Diane Despres;
Antoine-Olivier Pilon as Steve Despres;
Suzanne Clement as Kyla;
Alexandre Goyette as Patrick;
Patrick Huard as Paul Beliveau