Xavier Dolan, the French-Canadian director, is making waves at the 69th Cannes Film Festival with his latest, “Juste la fin du monde” which translates into English as “It’s Only the End of the World”.
Following the premier today the reviews were mixed. The film features some of France’s major movie stars, including Oscar winner Marion Cotillard, Léa Seydoux, Nathalie Baye, Vincent Cassel and Gaspard Ulliel.
“Movies have to live inside people”
Vanity Fair’s critic describes it as “the most disappointing film at Cannes.” Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave it a four-out-of-five-star review praising it, as “a brilliant, stylized and hallucinatory evocation of family dysfunction”.
The story of a writer who returns after a 12-year absence to announce his imminent death to his family, the movie was shot in tight close-ups with quick dialogue. It’s based on a play by Jean-Luc Lagarce.
“Cannes needs to chill out.”
At 97 minutes it is Dolan’s shortest film, and he thinks, his best. It’s his fifth entry at Cannes, the second time vying for the coveted Palme d’Or. His last, ‘Mommy’ shared the jury prize at Cannes in 2014, with Jean-Luc Goddard, an award in itself, perhaps.
In a press conference following the screening this morning, Dolan said, “Cannes needs to chill out.” “The desire for instant analysis of films can be anathema to a movie that is naturally divisive, or requires contemplation”. He said, “Movies have to live inside people,”
The 27 year-old Dolan reached a broader mainstream audience this year as the director of British pop sensation, Adele‘s, music video for her song, ‘Hello’.
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