Saturday, December 04, 2010

Les Amours imaginaires

Kangastuksia / Inbillad kärlek / Heartbeats. CA © 2010 Mifilifilms, Inc. P: Xavier Dolan, Carole Mondello, Daniel Morin. D+SC: Xavier Dolan. DP: Stéphanie Anne Weber Biron - digital intermediate - 1,85:1. Cost: Sophie Beasse. Makeup: Melissa Purino. "Bang Bang" (Sonny Bono) perf. Dalida. J.S. Bach cello suites. S: Sylvain Brassard. ED: Serge Harvey. Cast: Monia Chokri (Marie), Niels Schneider (Nicolas), Xavier Dolan (Francis). 103 min. Released in Finland by Bio Rex Distribution with Finnish / Swedish subtitles by Topi Oksanen / Joanna Erkkilä. A 35 mm screening at Kinopalatsi 6, Helsinki, 4 Dec 2010.

The second feature film of the 21-year-old Xavier Dolan is a triangle story of Marie and Francis who live together as friends and fall in love for Nicolas. However, the feeling is one-sided for both Marie and Francis.

Les Amours imaginaires is full of references. Two main characters see Audrey Hepburn and James Dean as reference points. There is a retro concept in Marie's style. The film has been compared with the French nouvelle vague and with Wong Kar-wai. For me, the film is slightly threatened to be drowned in its references, including the powerful Dalida performance of "Bang Bang".

I don't pretend having understood the characters. There is a mystery what they do, are they working, do they study, or even, are they prostitutes. There is a narcissist aura in the monologues. The nervous hand-held camera movements I have seen before.

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