Laurence Anyways
Laurence Anyways
PG-13 | 28 June 2013 (USA)
Laurence Anyways Trailers

The story of an impossible love between a woman named Fred and a transgender woman named Laurence who reveals her inner desire to become her true self.

Reviews
Titreenp SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?
Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.
Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.
Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable
Manuel Groesch What I liked about the movie: Suzanne Clément's performance is full of emotion, humanity, love and makes us understand the (often) silent struggle of her character as well as the loud outbreaks of that struggle The soundtrack including Pour que tu m'aimes encore by Céline Dion The Roses: I love the eccentric counterpoint they are to the often bleak world that surrounds Laurence The bleak surroundings that Laurence tries to fill with a lamp the waterfall scene with FredThe beginning, when people stare at us and make us feel uncomfortableThe first day in class and the student's question What I didn't like:the length of the movie, some plot points could've been more concise and some like Fred's sister could've been cut altogether sometimes Dolan used slow motion or other stylistic devices in places where it wasn't necessary or even hindered the emotional engagement of me as a viewer. Less is more! the son/mother relationship seemed exhausting to meAll in all this movie should have a higher rating based on what I liked and didn't like but the extreme and unnecessary length hurt my viewing experience a lot
sol- Coming out as a transsexual proves challenging for a high school teacher in this French Canadian drama directed by Xavier Dolan and starring Melvil Poupaud. He undergoes predictable trouble at work (though curiously from his colleagues - not his pupils who respect his courage) and ends up losing his job. His parents also expectedly reject him and he has trouble dining in public without someone making some comment about his looks. Not so expected though is Poupaud's long term girlfriend's decision to stick with him throughout his ordeal, and Suzanne Clément is superb as the young lady in question who, despite all doubts, claims to still need his "forearms". Set over a ten year period, the couple's relationship is tested at several points but their connection is absolutely undeniable and there is a potent scene in which they encounter another trans couple who claim that "gender is shallow" and it is "the person" who matters. Truer relationship advice may have never been said, but it is to the film's credit that it is does everything to challenge this, highlighting how difficult is for one to achieve happiness in a world full of societal expectations and heavily drilled norms. At nearly three hours long, the film runs a little long and is never quite as intense at it could be. The extra runtime allows Dolan to experiment with some neat stylistically touches though as things fall on the actors in slow motion to the tune of serene music. This in turn gives the film a dreamlike quality - rather fitting for a film about a human being realising his/her dreams beyond gender stereotyping.
chtkhs This is one of the most impressed movies that I've ever seen. This movie is about a couple, Laurence and Fred, who love each other and have been together for long time. One day, Laurence opens his heart to her that he wants to be woman. Fred confuses and thinks about their future. Then, Fred decides she becomes Laurence's best friend and she teaches him how to make up, but they are troubled by prejudices of the society. Also, the mood of this movie and camera-work are fresh. Many colors are used and music invites us into story, so we can't be bored in spite of complex story. The director of this movie, Xavier Dolan, became my favorite one after I watched this movie, and this is the most favorite one of his movies. Therefore, I want everyone to see this. I recommend very much, but you will be tired a little because you are dragged very much.
Sindre Kaspersen Québécois actor, screenwriter and director Xavier Dolan's third feature film which he wrote, premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at the 65th Cannes International Film Festival in 2012, was screened in the Special Presentations section at the 37th Toronto International Film Festival in 2012 and is a France-Canada co-production which was shot on locations in Canada, USA and France and produced by producers Charles Gillibert, Nathanaël Karmitz and Lyse Lafontaine. It tells the story about Laurence Alia, a literature teacher and writer in his mid-30s who lives with his girlfriend Fred in Montreal. Laurence has always and secretly felt like a woman living in a man's body, but when he tells Fred that he is a transsexual and intends to become a woman, she is confronted with a truth that alters her view on him and their relationship.Distinctly and precisely directed by Québécois filmmaker Xavier Dolan, this finely paced fictional tale which is narrated from the two main characters viewpoints, draws an involving and multifaceted portrayal of a man's struggle towards becoming a complete person and a woman's struggle to come to terms with the fact that the man she loves isn't the man she thought he was and that he has decided to have a sex-change. While notable for its colorful milieu depictions, sterling production design by Canadian production designer Anne Pritchard, cinematography by cinematographer Yves Bélanger, fine costume design and editing by Xavier Dolan, make-up, use of colors, use of music and versatile style of filmmaking, this character-driven, narrative-driven and conversational story about identity and being accepted for who one really is, depicts two interrelated studies of character and contains a great score by the Canadian band NOIA.This romantic, humorous, melodramatic and atmospheric pop-culture drama which is set mostly in Montreal during the late 1980s and 1990s and which affectively evokes its period, is impelled and reinforced by its cogent narrative structure, substantial character development, quick-witted dialog, various characters, multiple perspectives, the prominent acting performances by French actor Melvil Poupaud, Canadian actress Suzanne Clément and the fine supporting acting performances by French actress Nathalie Baye and Canadian actress Monia Chokri. An epic, imaginative and remarkable love-story which encourages open-mindedness, confirms the vitality and importance of cinema as a visual art form and which gained, among several other awards, the award for Best Canadian Feature at the 37th Toronto Film Festival in 2012.