THE SCHOOL OF GODARD PART 2: MOVING IMAGERY

I know it's been a while since we've looked at Godard's influence here at PINNLAND EMPIRE (check out part one if you haven't already) but we're back with an all new post.

In part two we're going to look at some obvious, yet overlooked examples ranging from Hal Hartey & Leos Carax (who, like Godard, wrote for Cahier Du Cinema prior to becoming a filmmaker and used some of the same actors that Godard used) to Xavier Dolan & Claire Denis (elements of Beau Travail are directly connected to one of Godard's classic films).

And, like usual, some of these examples are a little far out (White Of The Eye) and probably coincidental (Rocky), but the similarities are there nonetheless.

Enjoy...

Leos Carax's use of Black & White cinematography, plaid & striped clothing and dance in Boy Meets Girl (right) all seem very reminiscent of Godard's Band Of Outsiders...

It should also be noted that Leos Carax appears in Godard's King Lear

Band Of Outsiders / Boy Meets Girl

The French New Wave vs. the Czech New Wave...

Vivre Sa Vie / Loves Of A Blonde

Agnes Varda (right) ran in similar film circles with Godard (left) so perhaps there was some subconscious influence? You be the judge...

A Married Woman . La Bonheur

Rumor has it that Xavier Dolan has never seen a Godard film. That may very be well true but I find that hard to believe given the comparison below (note both the color schemes and the similar shots of the naked bodies)

Contempt / Heartbeats 

Alphaville / Les Rendezvous D'Anna

Michel Subor plays the same character in both films so this one isn't really up for debate...

Le Petite Soldat / Beau Travail

Alphaville / Lost Highway

The Cranberries are on record saying Alphaville was an influence on their music video for Linger...

Alphaville / Linger

Hal Harley was once dubbed "The Jean Luc Godard of Long Island" and this example below might be one of the many reasons why (I always associated Hartley more with Bresson but there is definitely a Godard connection in some of his work)

First Name Carmen /
No Such Thing

Passion /
Nightwatching

Vivre Sa Vie /
Rocky

Pierrot Le Fou / The White Of The Eye

Twin Peaks / Vivre Sa Vie

Vivre Sa Vie / Friday Night

Vivre Sa Vie / The Match Factory Girl

IT'S ONLY THE END OF THE WORLD (TIFF 2016)

It's Only The End Of The World is a bit of a paradox because in order for it to really have worked it should've been twice as long (we're given at least three hours worth of material crammed in to a 90 minute movie). But the problem is that even if the movie were twice as long, I doubt a lot of folks would want to sit through 3+ hours of one of the most frustrating cinematic families of the last ten years. It's Only The End Of The World tells the story of a terminally ill playwright ("Louis") trying to make an effort to reconnect with the family he distanced himself from for over a decade. His family, which consists of an older brother "Antoine" (Vincent Cassell), younger sister "Suzanne" (Lea Seydoux) and widowed mother (Nathalie Bey), doesn't know that he is dying. Will Louis tell his family the bad news or not?
(Marion Cotillard also co-stars as Cassell's wife but her talent was so underutilized that she was kind of forgettable. Just about any actress could have played her part).

Less than 10 minutes in to the film we're introduced to Louis' family and we quickly come to learn why he kept his distance from them for so long. His brother Antoine has the temperament of an angry 10 year old with emotional problems, his sister Suzanne is a moody brat (she's also a bit of a burnout), and his mother is incredibly flighty and overly concerned with vanity. They all make inappropriate comments towards each other and are constantly shouting every 5 minutes. It's chaos.
I know I'm not exactly praising this film but Dolan has certainly matured as a filmmaker. This might be his most mature film to date. And if you follow this blog regularly then you know I'm fascinated with films about siblings and/or big families (I'm an only child so that world is foreign to me). So I'm always down for a well-crafted (or an attempt at a well-crafted) family drama. Xavier Dolan does a great job of throwing us in to the deep end right away.

But there are some serious rough edges that could have been ironed out in my opinion...

A lot of the music in the film heavily dictates how you're supposed to feel when it isn't necessary. When Louis walks in to his mother's house for the first time in 12 years we already know it's a big deal yet Dolan uses this swelling orchestral music to make us feel overwhelmed. But it's overkill. We know it's a dramatic moment already.
Another issue I have with the music is Xavier Dolan's choice of pop music at odd/inappropriate times. If you're familiar with Dolan's work then you know pop music is a staple within the DNA of his filmography. But most of his films focus on young "hip" characters having relationship problems and/or going to parties so it makes sense to use pop music under those settings. But It's Only The End Of The World is a serious family drama. There's no point to throw in Moby and other synthesized pumping cotton candy pop songs. It would be interesting to see Xavier Dolan take his music cues from a guy like Haneke and use little to no music in his next movie.
Louis' "holier than thou" attitude is a bit much after a while and Vincent Cassell's performance is turned up to 10. At times it felt like Cassell was playing an angry caricature of himself. I don't see how a human being like "Antoine" would exist/survive in real life with the temper he has.


I don't spend my time writing about movies on here that I completely dislike. This movie shouldn't be dismissed. If you're a fan of Xavier Dolan or the new/current wave of young arthouse filmmakers, I still recommend seeing this. You can see the progression & maturity in his filmmaking since his debut in 2010 (I compare Dolan's growth to Ben Affleck's growth as a director in that Gone Baby Gone is still his best film but he grows as a director with each movie). Certain elements within It's Only The End Of The World seem as if they would come from the mind of a seasoned middle-aged filmmaker rather than the 27 year old mind of Dolan. There's an honest attempt at creating real drama and he does take his characters very seriously.

I do feel somewhat bad for the negative reception this film received from some critics at Cannes (I say somewhat because even with all the negative press, Dolan still won the grand jury prize). The (sometimes unlikeable) characters are very intense right out of the gate and I think certain critics disliked the movie when it's characters they really disliked and somewhere things got lost in translation (it's like hating The Last King Of Scotland because Forest Whitaker gives a somewhat charming performance as Idi Amin). It's a little unfair that Dolan had to deal with that kind of irresponsible criticism.

But from the use of color & slow-motion to the continued exploration of the relationship between mother & son (this is yet another Dolan film where the father is a just a brief memory with little screen time) - It's Only The End Of The World fits in perfectly with the rest of Dolan's filmography.

THE CINEMA OF XAVIER DOLAN TOLD THROUGH (MOVING) IMAGES & STILLS

Say what you want about Xavier Dolan (he seems to have just as many fans as he does detractors) but his films have a place in certain circles. He's also young which means there's room to grow & mature over time (and I don't mean to be patronizing because he's already shown how talented he is as both a filmmaker and an actor). Like his contemporary Cam Archer, Dolan's influences range from Gus Van Sant & Todd Haynes (LGBT issues & sexual identity) to Wong Kar Wai (the use of slow motion) & Leos Carax which is pretty impressive given his age (a lot of young art house filmmakers under the age of 30 like Dolan tend to exclusively draw influences from obvious sources like The French New Wave or they get a warped sense of influence from John Cassavetes).

With The Toronto International Film Festival right around the corner (which coincides with the Toronto premier of It's Only The End Of The World) I thought I would dedicate this next entry to one of Canada's (youngest) hometown heroes.

Enjoy...

COLOR PALETTE

You can always count on Xavier Dolan to use every color combination known to man (as you scroll through this piece you'll see this is the one category that bleeds through all the other categories in this entry). Actually, if you go back and look at The Cinema Of Todd Haynes one might consider Dolan to be the modern heir to Haynes in terms of color usage...

It's Only The End Of The World

I Killed My Mother

It's Only The End Of The World

Heartbeats

Heartbeats

Heartbeats

Laurence Anyways

Heartbeats

Heartbeats

Heartbeats

Mommy

Laurence Anyways

Mommy

MOMMY ISSUES

I always hesitate to speculate about the personal lives of directors but in the case of Xavier Dolan it's almost impossible not to when he practically lays it all out for us in his films (hey, his relationship with his mom might be just fine in real life but his personal/intimate films lead me to think otherwise). I mean, his feature film debut is called "I Killed My Mother". Since his debut almost every one of his films has explored the rocky relationships between a (male) protagonist and his mother (he has yet to explore any other parental relationship i.e. Father & Son, Mother & Daughter, etc).

It's Only The End Of The World

Mommy

Laurence Anyways

I Killed My Mother

RECURRING SHOTS...

Tom At The Farm

I Killed My Mother

Heartbeats

Laurence Anyways

Mommy

USE OF SLOW-MOTION

Heartbeats

Mommy

Laurence Anyways

(POSSIBLE) VISUAL INFLUENCES

Ordet/I Killed My Mother

I Killed My Mother/Jackson Pollock

Mommy/The Creation Of Adam

Heartbeats

In The Mood For Love

Mommy/Gummo

Boy Meets Girl/Mommy

Boy Meets Girl/Mommy

Mommy/My Own Private Idaho

Mysterious Skin/Heartbeats

Heartbeats/David

Heartbeats/David

GODARD'S INFLUENCE

MUSIC

I know it's an obvious/cliche statement but music really is good for the soul. It (temporarily) heals, soothes, calms, etc. Xavier Dolan knows this which is why he uses music (usually through headphones) as a (temporary) escape for his troubled characters...

Laurence Anyways

I Killed My Mother

Mommy

RAGE

It's understandable why people get more caught up in the colors, slow motion cinematography & glamour (something we'll be getting in to next) in Dolan's films but a lot of his characters are hurting and holding in a ton of rage.

Our female lead in Laurence Anyways is struggling with the sexuality of her partner. Our lead youth in Mommy has a lot of misguided anger due to his home life and Tom (Tom At The Farm) is struggling with the fact that his deceased lover kept their (homosexual) relationship a secret from his family.

Tom At The Farm

Heartbeats

Laurence Anyways

It's Only The End Of The World

Mommy

GLAMOUR/MODERN ART

Perhaps this is another callback to Todd Haynes' influence (Velvet Goldmine). Dolan is clearly fascinated with pop art, high fashion, glitter, glam-rock (specifically Ziggy Stardust-era Bowie) and just all things "glamorous"...

Laurence Anyways

Hello

Mommy

I Killed My Mother 

I Killed My Mother

THE HUMAN BODY

Xavier Dolan doesn't shy away from exploring the naked/half naked body (I Killed My Mother & Heartbeats) or the idea of not feeling comfortable in your own skin like in the case of Laurence Anyway.

Laurence Anyways

Laurence Anyways

Heartbeats

Heartbeats

I Killed My Mother

I Killed My Mother

SEX, SENSUALITY & (SOMETIMES UNHEALTHY) DESIRES

Dolan's characters often find themselves unhealthily fantasizing over crushes (in Heartbeats we see one of the main characters masturbating while sniffing the shirt of the person he has a crush on) or we see them stalking their ex's like in the case of Laurence Anyways...

Heartbeats

Heartbeats

Heartbeats

Tom At The Farm

I Killed My Mother

FRUSTRATING MAIN CHARACTERS

While I enjoy most of Dolan's films, a lot of his lead characters sometimes drive me crazy as they're manipulative & narcissistic (Nicolas in Heartbeats), kind of bratty (Dolan In I Killed My Mother) or incredibly self-centered (Laurence in Laurence Anyways)...

I Killed My Mother

Laurence Anyways

Heartbeats