Laurence Anyways

This is a strong, disconcerting, highly unconventional movie that is not easy to review, or to watch. Although it is the story of a transgender experience and how it affects existing relationships, it is much more than that.

The movie is so strong and so complex--and so long--that I'm reluctant to say much more about it, partly because I don't know much else to say about it now. I'll need to watch it at least one more time before I'm ready even to think about doing that. I can say, though, that anyone expecting a love story about attractive and sympathetic characters will be severely disappointed and probably angry.

Anyone expecting a positive account of what it's like to change gender identity will probably be disappointed too. Anyone who needs the orderly development of a story and the relatable characters that are essential in Hollywood movies will be furious after having sat through these nearly three hours of VERY unconventional and challenging movie-making.

Finally, anyone who enjoys picking a movie apart and saying what he or she would do to make it better--eliminate peripheral characters, cut an hour off the movie's length, etc--will have a field day with this one. Unfortunately for them (and for anyone who takes what they say seriously), they will have denied themselves most of what this remarkable movie offers them.

The only way to receive what a movie (or any other work of art) offers is to accept it AS IT IS, on its own terms, WITHOUT trying to analyze it or change it to fit some outside notion ("outside" meaning in YOUR mind, as opposed to the author's) of what it OUGHT to be.

Instead of trying to make this (or any other) movie "better", either make your own movie or let go of your compulsion to control what happens to you as you watch this one. If you don't like the experience, that's fine, but if you really believe you could have done it better, you're a fool. You're impressing (and cheating) nobody but yourself and anybody else who takes you seriously.

But anyone who wants to see the latest work of an extraordinarily gifted and original young artist (Xavier Dolan, who is not yet 25 years old), whose genius is exploding into the world with such power and such speed that even he probably can't explain everything he does--and is willing to let go, to give up control of the experience and see what DOLAN is showing you instead of what you want to see--will be changed by this astonishing movie.

This is one of the most impressed movies that I've ever seen. This movie is about a couple, Laurence and Fred, who love each other and have been together for long time. One day, Laurence opens his heart to her that he wants to be woman. Fred confuses and thinks about their future. Then, Fred decides she becomes Laurence's best friend and she teaches him how to make up, but they are troubled by prejudices of the society. Also, the mood of this movie and camera-work are fresh. Many colors are used and music invites us into story, so we can't be bored in spite of complex story. The director of this movie, Xavier Dolan, became my favorite one after I watched this movie, and this is the most favorite one of his movies. Therefore, I want everyone to see this. I recommend very much, but you will be tired a little because you are dragged very much.

My review is not gonna be long. It will not contain spoilers, either. I made an account on IMDb only to rate this movie and to write a short review, letting people know my opinion, so hopefully even more people will watch this movie.

The acting, the scenes, the music - everything was for me completely breathtaking. Yes, its a long movie - but it's not just a movie, or one story out of an entire life - it's LIFE, it's several chapters. Of course it's long... it has to be. I, myself, wanted to keep watching when it was over. Because it wasn't over. The story hadn't finished. There was more. This is not a movie to entertain people. This is real life, real characters... no bullshit... Many scenes, changing times, development of the different characters... Love, pain, laughter, sorrow. I enjoyed EVERY bit. I never write reviews on anything - this is my first one I ever made on a movie, book, etc... I just finished watching it, and it had me sitting on my sofa with tears streaming down my face.

Even though this movie is about a man who has the wish to become a woman, and even though the couple's struggle kind of revolves around that, I could identify so much with some of the things they go through together. It doesn't matter whether he is a transvestite or not... It reflects very familiar feelings, and I believe that people who have loved deeply, who have loved hard and fiercely, they will recognize these feelings too. And no matter what, this is a great movie to educate people with potential prejudice against transsexual men or women.

I hope that more people will watch it.

Great performance... left me with a feeling of joy and sadness, all in once. I really, really loved this movie. And I will be watching it again, no doubt...

Thank you for that.

I finally watched Laurence Anyways & was not disappointed. The story had truth dripping from every fiber. I'm just blown away by the whole production. Some visually breathtaking scenes that create absolute magic are just the icing on the cake, top notch all the way. The acting was powerful & spot on, not once did I see the actors and not the characters. I'm not familiar with the director but based off of this movie I'm intrigued to look a little deeper.

Laurence Anyways should be destined to become a cult classic once it finds a wider audience, and not just in the gay/trans-gendered community. Calling it a potential cult classic doesn't do it justice though as it has the values of an Oscar contender in my opinion. If the story sounds in the least but interesting to you, you would be doing yourself a huge disservice to let this one pass you by. It's long at over two and a half hours but doesn't drag, it's one of those movies that you hope will never end.

Is this movie Canadian? The credits would suggest so, if it is it's the best Canadian movie I've ever scene (I'm Canadian & have seen more then a few). Don't let that sound like personal bias as I went in not knowing anything about it's production. If this movie doesn't (or hasn't) won awards then there is no justice in the world of cinema.

Coming out as a transsexual proves challenging for a high school teacher in this French Canadian drama directed by Xavier Dolan and starring Melvil Poupaud. He undergoes predictable trouble at work (though curiously from his colleagues - not his pupils who respect his courage) and ends up losing his job. His parents also expectedly reject him and he has trouble dining in public without someone making some comment about his looks. Not so expected though is Poupaud's long term girlfriend's decision to stick with him throughout his ordeal, and Suzanne Clément is superb as the young lady in question who, despite all doubts, claims to still need his "forearms". Set over a ten year period, the couple's relationship is tested at several points but their connection is absolutely undeniable and there is a potent scene in which they encounter another trans couple who claim that "gender is shallow" and it is "the person" who matters. Truer relationship advice may have never been said, but it is to the film's credit that it is does everything to challenge this, highlighting how difficult is for one to achieve happiness in a world full of societal expectations and heavily drilled norms. At nearly three hours long, the film runs a little long and is never quite as intense at it could be. The extra runtime allows Dolan to experiment with some neat stylistically touches though as things fall on the actors in slow motion to the tune of serene music. This in turn gives the film a dreamlike quality - rather fitting for a film about a human being realising his/her dreams beyond gender stereotyping.