Film: I KILLED MY MOTHER (J'ai Tué Ma Mere) November 14, 2010

This screening is part of the St. Louis International Film Festival.

Dir: Xavier Dolan, Canada, 2009, 100 min., in French

Easily one of the most talked-about films of the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, “I Killed My Mother” – written, directed, produced, art-directed, and starring then-20-year-old Xavier Dolan – swept the awards of the Director’s Fortnight and made the filmmaker an overnight sensation. At the center of this semi-autobiographical tale is Hubert (Dolan), a neurotic, gay 16-year-old who cannot stand his mother (the wonderful Anne Dorval). His unrelenting scorn obsesses Hubert and results in vocal spats, though perhaps the flaws he sees in his mother are simply those he recognizes and hates in himself. Scott Tobias of the A.V. Club remarked: “Dolan is an expressive, boundlessly energetic figure on both sides of the camera. This is one of those surprising, formative works that could announce a major new filmmaker or lead to a Tenenbaums-style burnout; either way, the film makes you feel optimistic about the next generation.”

Official Website: http://www.cinemastlouis.org