J'ai tué ma mère (I Killed My Mother)

reviewed by Marc Glassman

J'ai tué ma mère (I Killed My Mother)
Xavier Dolan, director, script.
Starring: Xavier Dolan (Hubert Minel), Anne Dorval (Chantale, his mother), Suzanne Clement (Julie), Francois Arnaud (Antonin)

A multi-award winner at Cannes, a near-Oscar nominee and already a hit in its native home, Quebec, J'ai tué ma mère (I Killed My Mother) is finally opening in English Canada.

You can divide Xavier Dolan’s already famous first film into three acts, which would give it more structure than one sees in the movie itself.

The tale of the making of the film is absolutely remarkable. So has been its reception, particularly at Cannes. Then, there’s the film—what about it? Hmm…perhaps we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves as young Mr. Dolan does so frequently. Let’s begin this beguine at the beginning.

A precociously successful actor, the handsome Mr. Dolan saved his money and was able to fund the prep for his first film soon after he completed the script—at the age of 16. When he needed more money, SODEC, the Quebec funding agency came through with $400,000, despite having initially turned down the project. By the time Dolan was 18, the film was complete, for a budget well under $1 million.

Arriving at Cannes with few expectations, Dolan and his film outperformed its competition, garnering three prizes: The Directors’ Fortnight SACD Prize, the Prix Regards Jeune and C.I.C.A.E Award. The European film establishment took up Xavier Dolan, making him a star. After all, how many 18 year olds have won three prizes at the most prestigious festival in the world? As Maxwell Smart on Get Smart would have said, “would you believe one, Chief?”

Indeed. So what has Quebec’s younger version of Orson Welles wrought?

Teenaged angst is on display at near operatic levels from the film’s opening scene. Mother Chantale and son Hubert are at each other’s throats at the breakfast table. Their fighting is so prolonged and upsetting that young Hubert finally exits the family car before he’s even deposited for his high school classes. Though Hubert and Chantale eventually reconcile, a pattern has been established, one that is rarely deviated during the rest of the film.

Mother and son fight—and fight—and fight. He’s smart, stylish and gay. She’s attractive but is squeamishly lower-middle-class; a woman who likes to dress in garish clothes and overly indulge in junk food and the junk culture of television.

Hubert finds satisfaction in the arms of his high school lover Antonin. Not only does Antonin love him, the boy’s free spirited mother allows them to have as much fun as they want at her house.

Hubert’s teacher Julie, a non-conformist 30-something also appreciates the young man and offers him emotional and intellectual support.

But Hubert keeps on going back to Mama, despite their many disagreements. Even when she and Hubert’s constantly absent father send him to boarding school to “straighten out,” the lad keeps returning for more.

Why? We’re supposed to guess that it’s love but it feels more like narcissism. Hubert and his parents all have it. They may not be able to deal with each other because they’re so much in love with themselves.

I Killed My Mother is more a tone poem than a drama. Dolan achieves his artistic satisfaction by repetition, not revelations. His narrative lacks thrust and the characters are one dimensional apart from the lachrymose but complex Hubert.

It’s impossible to deny that this film has big scenes and, at its core, two fabulous performances—Dolan as Dolan, oops Hubert and Anne Dorval as Chantale. The whole piece lacks the power of its best scenes but that’s forgivable in a first film. Watch I Killed My Mother—and let’s hope that his next film is a more engaging drama.