Movie Journal Entry #12: J'ai tué ma mère. (2009)

If there's something wrong with this movie its not the movie itself but the way in which it has been portrayed in the news. It seems that whenever a movie from Quebec is recognized internationally the Quebec media end up praising it so fucking much that it really gets kind of tiresome. The way they talk about it its as if it was the second coming of Christ or something. This isn't to say that Xavier Dolan's first film isn't impressive, because it is. Even more so the fact that he wrote, directed and starred in it all at the young age of 20. However Christian fundamentalists won't be jumping out into the streets anytime soon, this movie is not the second coming but it is a incredibly well made first effort.

The movie portrays the conflict between 16 year old Huber Minel (Dolan) and his mother ( Anne Dorval), who just doesn't seem to understand him. Every little thing she does seems to irritate him from her fashion statements to her less than stellar memory(reminded me of my dad >_>). The beggining of the movie is interupted a few times by well made well-written black and white video confessions of Hubert saying how he believes he was just not meant to have a mother.
The smart yet emotionally-troubled Hubert surprisingly comes out the villain in a lot of the confrontations, with his sometimes illogical, overly emotional and unprovoked bursts of anger.
Both characters have their incredible defining moments near the end of the movie, with a drug induced confession and an angry rant over the phone.
The supporting cast have some personnality but seem at times like simple plot devices for the two main characters to feed off of. "The teacher" and "the boyfriend" make for some nice scenes and interactions but it always ends up being about the mother.
Dolan definetly has his style yet I often felt that it was there for no other reason other than just to be stylish, the first time he did this specific shot I thought that's pretty smart because of the specific situation. Yet he used it over and over after that and after a while it kind of lost its impact. A lot of his other visual choices did manage to hit markhowever. The colors at his home are very drab and illustrate perfectly the way he feels. When he's with his boyfriend everything is lighter and brighter.
Something I liked was that despite the character being gay we are not bombarded with gay preaching and what not. There was only one scene with violence that I felt was too much and unessecary. It was my least favorite scene in the entire movie.
Another fun thing about movies shot in Montreal is that there are locations that I recognized (etude du College Notre-Dame) and managed put a smile (or a frown) on my face.
Smartly written and exceptionnaly well made with such a low budget this movie is definitely a hit in my book. The more I think about it the more I like this movie.
If you have some spare time and don't mind watching emotionaly chalenging movies, support your local cinema and go see this one.