Laurence Anyways (2013)
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AUDIENCE SCORE
Critic Consensus: Passionate and powerfully acted, Laurence Anyways sometimes strains to achieve its narrative ambitions (and fill its three-hour running time), but ultimately succeeds.
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Cast
as Laurence Alia
as Fred Bellair
as Julienne Alia
as Stefanie Bellair
as Michel Lafortune
as Andree Bellair
as Charlotte
as Mamy Rose
as Baby Rose
as Dada Rose
as Tatie Rose
as Tatie Rose
as Shookie Rose
as Albert
as Francine
as Journalist
as Gérante de la créperie
as Élise Voïnitski
as Fanny
as Alexandre
as Président du conseil
as Secrétaire du conseil
as Mathe Delteuil
as Yves Voïnitski
as Mathieu
as Simon Delteuil
as Roland Bertrand
as Pierre Alia
as Léo
as Propriétaire Arabe
as Marco de Bellefeuille
as Young Adolescent
as Antiquaire
as Truck Driver
as Albert's Aunt
as Student
as Commis du supermarché
as Barman à l'Ile au Noir
as Barman
as Academic Man
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Critic Reviews for Laurence Anyways
All Critics (59) | Top Critics (19) | Fresh (49) | Rotten (10) | DVD (1)
"Laurence Anyways" is a formidable display of French Canadian director Xavier Dolan's prodigious talents, but also a case study of a young talent still finding his way to greatness.He'll get there one day, soon, but this film doesn't quite do it.
Lushly romantic and daringly original.
It's all too much, really, including its 21/2-hour-plus running time. But it's also engrossing, an ultimately tender story of a transsexual's transformation over 10 years and its effect on him and the people around him.
At nearly three hours, it's by turns an extraordinary and exhausting work.
Poupaud's quiet moments convey a lofty, poignant introspection, and Clément erupts with grand, if scattershot, furies.
At nearly three hours, it's entirely too long, needlessly padded out with an intrusive interview-framing device.
Audience Reviews for Laurence Anyways
Dolan's first misstep in his so far promising career, and it is true that he had shown before a penchant for over-stylization but now he seems to think he is fabulous enough to come up with this incredibly pretentious, self-indulgent, artificial and exasperating exercise of style over substance.
Super Reviewer
Even though "Laurence Anyways," is about the title character(Melvil Poupaud), a transgender teacher and poet, the movie is in reality not so much concerned about gender. Rather, it is about transformation in general, as it charts ten years in the life of her and her long time girlfriend Fred(Suzanne Clement), a production assistant for movies, during the 1990's while charting the evolution of their ever changing relationship. As such, writer-director Xavier Dolan shows marked improvement in his visual presentation with several very memorable images. For example, the first time Laurence walks through a school hallway in women's clothes has to be one of the bravest things a character has ever done in a movie. At the same time, I'm not quite sure "Laurence Anyways" warrants its epic length, just as much as Dolan seems to reference the 80's more than the 90's.(Look, I may not know fashion or hairstyling but I do know a 1981 Duran Duran song when I hear one.)
Super Reviewer
For someone to direct a film such as this at such a tender age is remarkable. Xavier Dolan has the potential to become one of the greatest Canadian directors of all time. I saw this version which I believe is the theatrical version..I missed the longer one released by the Film Festival and I hope I didn't miss out on more intriguing looks at Laurence Alia and his struggles in world where the thinking is still a little backward. Fantastic jobs by the leads. Their relationship sizzles.
Super Reviewer
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