Since the beginning of cinema, older people have been telling young people’s stories. Sometimes it is someone only slightly older telling a story about their recent past (John August’s Go) but often the case is a much older man reflecting upon their youth (Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Dreamers). Now I’m not saying that this is a bad thing necessarily (in fact I adore and have written about both of those films) but what I am saying is that while time and distance can bring perspective, it can also diminish the honesty and intensity that was present when this was all new.
Thanks to the “digital revolution” literally anyone can make a film. Anyone who has an iPhone can tell their story and as a result feature filmmakers are getting younger and younger. It absolutely blows my mind that Xavier Dolan was only 20 when he made this film! And while it is by no means a perfect film, the promise on display is astounding. The images are both beautiful and assured and the insights into human nature feel preternaturally profound. Dolan is able to perfectly capture that precarious balance between the mundane and the epic that is early adulthood. The boring days and the endless nights. This isn't some nostalgic look back, this is reportage from the frontlines.
And oh the honest brutality of that ending! I’m excited to see where his career goes.
