lefkiosvanrooy Review of Laurence Anyways

Laurence Anyways (2012)

Forget the Danish Girl, Laurence Anyways is the film to watch

[8/10 · 28 March 2016]

To make an almost 3-hour long film without losing the audience through the course of these 3 hours is a tough thing to do. Dolan manages to achieve this, and he does so in a variety of ways: Firstly, the narrative remains coherent, realistic and well-thought throughout and never falls into areas of predictability. The movie benefits from terrific performances by its two lead actors as well as an all- rounded cast with some of the most subtle but fine acting seen – in particular, Fred's sister, played by Monia Chokri. The two protagonists create a chemistry on screen that is so unique, so passionate that it makes the audience want to root for this couple. Xavier explores the struggles of that come with being transgender in an otherwise heterosexual couple in a truly honest and non-superficial way, with the dialogues exchanged between the two characters avoiding all clichés that could easily have been included with a topic like this. The film gets to the core of the difficulties and trepidations that a couple like this one may face and how in a normal world, love is often not enough to truly overcome these obstacles. It is ultimately a love story between two humans that truly try to make it work and never really fall out of love but come to the realisation that the obstacles they once thought they could overcome, were too great a factor in their lives to allow them to live happily. Laurence had hopes that this great love they shared would be strong enough to get them through the physicality of same sex marriage. Fred on the other hand, while she may have initially believed the same, as she gets older she realised that she could never fool herself into thinking she could get past it. Finally what truly makes this film so entertaining to watch is the many stylistic elements the director adds, with moments in the film where score and staging much so very well together and give you a goose-bumping feeling as if you've watched a monumental music video – this elegance of music and film combined together is often seen in Dolan's films.