« I want to show resilient characters »
 

PostED ON 14.10.2024

A packed house and a standing ovation: filmmaker Xavier Dolan is not only a festival darling, but he also holds a special place in the hearts of Lyon moviegoers. With his trademark devastating sense of humour and generous nature, the Quebec director shared his candid views during a master class at the Pathé Bellecour, attended by a 5-star cast: Alexandra Lamy, Anne Dorval and Pierre-Olivier Pilon. Highlights.

© Sandrine Thesillat - JL Mège Photographies

Love or friendship

Friendship is one of the strong themes in my films. My entire life is centred on friendship. All my great love stories start out as stories of friendship. Matthias & Maxime (2019) is a film about reconstruction and healing for me. I surrounded myself with my best friends to make it. Cinema is a path we take to live better! I want to show resilient characters in my films. I like people who fight, people who seek social justice.

L’ouvrage A Friendship Trough Film, co-signé avec Shayne Laverdière

I don't think I’d ever have been pretentious enough to publish a book if it weren’t to talk about the work of photographer Shayne Laverdière. We started out together and we've known each other since 2011; I wanted to ask him to take the photos of the filming of Mommy (2014). I’m really keen on his work, he's also someone who has accompanied us on other shoots and at international festivals. This book tells a different story: his photos capture the creative process of a film.  We even go beyond the film to show what goes on behind the scenes.

Attention to detail

From the set to the costumes, I pay a lot of attention to details: it's what I love doing the most. For me, it's just as beautiful to film a period setting featuring parasols as an ashtray full of cigarette butts or a table where bills are piled up. When I watch a film, it's the details that intrigue me, that strike me. As for costumes, I have a great passion for clothing: it's a second skin for an actor, it's his first line. In life too, clothes say a lot about a person. And all the filmmakers I admire are very involved in their choices of wardrobe. It's normal for me to pay that kind of attention to it; the opposite would be abnormal! 

© Sandrine Thesillat - JL Mège Photographies

Mainstream music

I have the impression that there has been a liberation of this tendency in me, which is becoming more and more assertive in choosing songs. I remember perfectly the moment when my producer Nancy Grant and I were discussing one of the scenes in Mommy. Initially, the choices tended towards more pop, independent songs. And then I told Nancy, “Do you think I could use White Flag by Dido?” and she replied, “Of course! People will be thrilled to hear that song”. And it perfectly matched the reality of the characters."

Will he stop making movies?

What I said about my wanting to move away from movies has been ‘misquoted’. I haven't made a film in six years. I said I was stopping because it's a fact of life: it's hard to make a film, it's hard to find funding for it. The older I get, the more I need to take the time to do things. I need to build and move forward. If the industry I work in doesn't allow me to go as far as possible, there's no point in it! I have the desire and the need to go to the very limits in order to make a film. I'm worried about the world we live in and cinema sometimes takes a back seat in this world. It's impossible for me not to think about what's happening in Gaza and Lebanon.

His next film

I'm currently working on a film project which is scheduled to start shooting next year. The script is already written: the story takes place in 1895 in the Parisian literary milieu. There are a lot of comedic aspects in the writing, but the film will involve an assortment of genres. 

Reported by Laura Lépine