Young Xavier Dolan Makes Extraordinairy Film in Laurence Anyways

Laurence Anyways is a 2012 Canadian romantic drama film written, edited, and directed by 24-year-old Québécois wunderkind Xavier Dolan. The film competed in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival where Suzanne Clément won the Un Certain Regard Award for Best Actress.  It explores the volcanic relationship between Laurence, a transgender woman (Melvil Poupaud) and Frédérique ("Fred"), her female lover.  At the age of 35, Laurence, a respected literature professor in a happy, long-term relationship, announces that he has been “stealing the life of the woman [he] was meant to be,” and embarks on the process of transitioning from male to female.  The support that Fred offers Laurence is unexpected and uplifting, she doubles down on her commitment level.  Yet in the end, it’s clear that there is no resolution for the couple’s problems. Fred loves Laurence, but longs for “a man’s arms”; Laurence needs Fred, but can’t continue being a man (or apologize for his decision to become a woman). They remain true to their desires, because that’s the best they can do.

Violet Lucca (Film Comment) opines  the prejudices confronting trans, homeless gay youth and non-Caucasian gays are more pervasive and entrenched than those faced by their white, upper-middle-class counterparts who live in (or have the economic freedom to move to) gay-friendly metropolitan areas, as the 41% attempted-suicide rate of trans people makes clear.  Straight viewers may not pick up on the scene where a "world-weary fag hag" quips “It gets better, my ass,” upon seeing the eponymous Laurence’s bloodied, beaten face after a barroom brawl. This swipe at gay advice columnist Dan Savage’s highly visible awareness campaign appears amid nearly 3 hours of melodrama interspersed with soaring music video sequences. Anatomizing the disconnect between progressive idealist orthodoxy and the realities of day-to-day life, the film tackles the shallowness of broadly defined “gay culture” (parties, fashion, catty wit, sloganeering)—and the shallowness of desire.

As an only child, Dolan was raised in Montreal by women after his parents separated.  The film confirms his respect for strong women.  It is noteworthy that the bulk of the film’s screentime and attention actually goes to Fred, Laurence’s girlfriend.  Yet Laurence fails to internalize Fred's difficulties in coming to terms with him and satisfying her own needs.  This interplay between "selfish" and "selfless" may resonate with a broad spectrum of viewers, straght and gay.

Simon Howell (Sight & Sound) notes that Laurence shares with Les Amours Imaginaires a fascination with pop music (Depeche Mode, the Cure, and, of course, Fever Ray are all present and accounted for) as well as slightly abstruse framing decisions (shot-countershot patterns in which Fred and Laurence’s faces obscure each other in a none-too-subtle visual nod to their increasing emotional separation).