Xavier Dolan: biography, personal life

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Talent does not depend on age, life experience or education. You can learn all your life, but never "shoot". But Xavier Dolan at the age of 25 is an actor, director, artist, composer. His first film made a splash, and his last film, Tom on the Farm, won applause at the Venice Film Festival. And who else can boast that at such a young age he is able to seriously compete with the cinematographers? However, the recognized masters had to move.

So who is Xavier Dolan?

Some critics consider him an upstart, an impostor. They assure that all his paintings are a continuous quotation, that he did not bring anything new to the cinema.

Others, on the contrary, revere him as a director of the "new wave", a representative of independent cinema, whose films bear the imprint of individuality and originality.

Who is right? Quickereverything, as usual, there are none.

Xavier himself admits that he is still looking for forms, trying different materials, plots, directorial techniques. However, these are not experiments for the sake of experiments. It's about finding new opportunities to tell your stories.

Dolan is not just a director, he himself starred in his tapes. He writes scripts, selects soundtracks, builds a composition for a future film and looks for suitable authentic faces for his stories.

Biographical

His full name is Xavier Dolan-Tadros. He was born in 1989, March 20, in Montreal. Tadros is his father's surname. Egyptian actor Manuel and university employee Genevieve broke up long before Xavier came of age. However, it was under the influence of his father that the young genius first tried himself in the acting field. Everything is very banal. He starred in commercials. Then there was the experience of dubbing. From the age of five, he was taken to small roles in TV shows. He also appeared in films. Again, in episodes. For such a young age, the career was very successful.

As a result, Xavier decided not to waste time on school, dropped out without even bothering to get a certificate. The period of "non-existence", as Dolan himself dubbed this time, ended with the writing of the script for the director's first film - "I Killed My Mother".

First film, first success

I Killed My Mother is the first film directed and written by Xavier Dolan. His filmography up to this point was instantly forgotten. Indeed, where are the episodic children's roles before the semi-biographic film-revelation.

Many are repelled by the name of this tape. However, in front of the viewer is not a thriller, not a creepy noir, this is a frank story of a teenager crushed by his mother's overprotectiveness. Relations with the mother on the verge of love-hate are familiar to many. Sometimes the desire of parents to personally build the life of their children gives rise to monstrous conflicts.

At the same time, there is another, not explicit storyline in the film. The relationship between the main character and his boyfriend. Yes, Xavier Dolan is gay. And he does not hide it.

The film "I killed my mother" was evaluated by the jury of the Cannes Film Festival. The picture was even nominated for an Oscar, however, they were not allowed into the main list. That didn't stop the young director from gaining cult status.

The picture once again convinces us that huge financial injections, promotions and advertising promotion are not needed to create a masterpiece. You don't even have to involve a lot of people. The seventeen-year-old boy himself filmed, edited, built a visual series, picked up a soundtrack, starred in the title role. And became a "new" discovery in the cinema.

Imagining love

Almost immediately after the debut film, Xavier's next film was released. The young artist is generally remarkable for his amazing capacity for work.

In 2009, the painting "Imaginary Love" appeared. The author himself described the film as "small" in terms of the feelings of the main characters, immersed in narcissism with themselves. Trying to build some kind of ideal love, they slide into banal "petty" love passions. The visual range here is very different from whatwas in the first picture. Bright, sometimes far from reality, images emphasize the unnaturalness, "picture" of this love triangle.

The film again made it to the Cannes program and was awarded in the Un Certain Regard category. Now no one doubted Xavier's talent.

Laurence Story

In 2012, the premiere of the following picture took place in Cannes. Xavier Dolan's films never cease to amaze with their originality.

This time the director explores transsexuality. It would seem a well-known plot: a man and a woman. They love each other, but the man finally decides to confess to himself the truth of his nature. He is preparing for a sex change operation.

With each new film, Dolan grows up. He demonstrates new visual techniques without losing the main thing - the ability to masterfully tell stories.

The viewer begins to empathize with the unfamiliar, despised world of trances, to see the faces of living people behind grotesque masks.

Fans, and Xavier had a lot of them, began to follow the news about the artist's plans with close attention. In 2012, information appears about the film adaptation of the play by Michael Bachard. His "Tom on the Farm" was going to be removed by Xavier Dolan himself. Photos from the Venice Film Festival delighted fans. Dolan not only completed the filming process of the film, but also participates with him in the competition program.

Rustic pastoral

From the first minutes of the picture, we observe the highway tape, lost in the vastness of meadows and fields. That's just fromthere is no trace of village serenity as soon as the main character meets the family of his deceased boyfriend. Instead of the expected shared grief, Tom is confronted by a mother who is unaware of her son's true nature. In addition, undisguised hatred of gays comes from the brother of the deceased.

Many critics were quick to compare the impact of the new Xavier painting to the Hitchcock thriller phenomenon. The same clear sense of danger from the screen. Almost tangible rage, the inevitability of a tragic ending. The viewer in his own skin feels fear, anxiety and expectation of a cruel denouement.

In "Tom" Dolan again took up the lead role. Fans got the opportunity to enjoy not only directing, but also acting from the genius of independent cinema.

However, the spiteful critics also increased. However, their escapades were not heard by the jury of the festival, which awarded the tape with a prize.

Xavier Dolan is not inclined to brush aside criticism. He uses detailed reviews of his work to further refine his technique. At the same time, he emphasizes in interviews that he tries not to be too swayed by flattery from fans or angry remarks from detractors.

Future plans

The fifth film is supposed to be titled "Mommy". In it, the director will return to the theme of the relationship between mother and son. It will be a story about a woman who takes in a boy with a dark, obscure past.

And Xavier Dolan will also appear as an actor in the film based on the play "The Song of the Elephants".

Personal facts

Everything that concerns facts not related to creativity, the director diligently keeps silent. Even in the most candid interviews, Dolan does not reveal the details of his life. He generously shares his plans and experiences. He does not skimp on words when discussing his films. However, it is impossible to discover information about who Xavier Dolan is dating. Personal life, in his opinion, should remain just that. He made his coming out, and that's it. Such a position deserves respect.

The young genius of independent cinema is not yet thirty. With his energy and desire to shoot and act, we can expect many more amazing films in the future.