I Killed My Mother
2009 · Directed by Xavier Dolan
Original language: French
- drama
The story
Hubert, a brash 17-year-old, is confused and torn by a love-hate relationship with his mother that consumes him more and more each day. After distressing ordeals and tragic episodes, Hubert will find his mother on the banks of Saint Lawrence river, where he grew up, and where a murder will be committed: the murder of childhood.
What it’s like
Sharp, saturated colour and close, restless framing: Dolan's debut was shot in the Quebec suburbs with a crisp, almost glossy digital look, lots of tight two-shots and faces pressed into the frame, interrupted by slow-motion flares and sudden bursts of pop music that give its arguments a heightened, theatrical charge. Interiors are warm and cluttered, kitchens and cars lit by flat daylight or sodium-orange dusk, while the riverbanks and the school corridors feel cold and open by contrast. Its vibe is volatile, aching and oddly playful, with wounded tenderness running underneath the shouting. Pacing is brisk and emotionally feverish, with quieter passages of stillness that land hard. Hubert, a seventeen-year-old lashing out at his single mother, is a restless adolescent slowly, painfully learning how much of himself he has been holding back. The intensity is mostly verbal: constant screaming matches, cruel insults, slammed doors and tearful confrontations, plus a few frank scenes of teenage desire and a brief moment of physical violence, but nothing graphic or gory. It suits viewers who want emotionally raw, stylish family drama with a fierce young energy, and who can handle a lot of yelling in exchange for an unforgettable, self-aware intensity.
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