Laurence Anyways

Xavier Dolan pretty much tries to rewrite the gender identity book with this overly long, but quite potent look at the life of "Laurence" (Melvil Poupaud). He is a pretty discontented man who announces to his long term girlfriend "Fred" (Suzanne Clément) that he is deeply unhappy in his own skin, and that he feels he would be much more fulfilled as a person if her were to be a woman. She's a bit taken aback, there are the "is it me?' conversations and then the realism sets in for her. That realism is even more difficult for his parents. His father, well he takes a slightly more stereotypically rejectionist perspective but his mother (Nathalie Baye) has a far harder time reconciling his choices. Though in response to his "Will you still love me", she comes out with "Are you becoming a woman or an idiot?", you sense that her world is in just as much turmoil as that of her son who now wishes to be her daughter. With the family stresses bubbling away, he starts to dress more freely and that attracts comments at work. He's a literature lecturer - perhaps a vocation that might provide for an atmosphere of tolerance and alternatives? Well, no - not quite, and pretty soon he is without a traditional form of anchor in his life, but no less determined. The story is set across a ten year period during which "Laurence" moves towards realigning his sex and dealing with the consequences for him and those around him. Poupaud is really quite effective at illustrating the peaks and troughs of his new life, of the days of joy and empowerment tempered with those of depression and isolation. Baye also delivers strongly as a woman conflicted and not at all certain of what is best for her child - and there is something plausible about her behaviour. Then there's Bellair's effort as his lover. That doesn't work quite so well for me, but maybe that's because I felt the behaviour written for her character just didn't resonate with realistically very often. It is over-written. There is way too much dialogue and at times I wanted them to shut up so I could take things in and assemble the scenario in my own mind. It has it's thought-provoking moments, and it also has some dry humour to lighten the mood every now and again as, in the end, Poupaud does make you care.