Xavier Dolan’s latest Cannes competition entry, “It’s Only the End of the World,” had its premiere last night at the Croisette, and the reaction was far from favorable (here’s our review). Just 27 years old, the Quebecois writer-director has already made as many films as Terrence Malick has over his entire career. 2014’s “Mommy” catapulted the young filmmaker into international acclaim, which resulted in high expectations for his latest film which, given the reaction in the south of France, disappointed many.
At this afternoon’s press conference, Dolan and his cast (which includes Marion Cotillard, Vincent Cassel and Léa Seydoux) seemed unfazed by the film’s negative reviews, and the young director proclaimed it his “most complete film,” going on to say, “Maybe it takes a little while for the film to come to life and for people to not only watch it, but to listen to it. But to me, this is my best film.”
The confidence he displayed to the media this afternoon was Kanye West-esque: a man who believes in his vision not bothered by negative reaction. “That’s something you should always believe,” Dolan said. “How can you move forward and proceed with things you’ve committed so much time to if you don’t think they’re the best?”
“There are also some great reviews that have been published,” he added with a bit of pique.
Based on Jean-Luc Lagarce’s play of the same name, the film stars Gaspard Ulliel as a terminally ill writer who decides to return home after a long absence to tell his quirky, dysfunctional family that he is going to die. Dolan’s love for the play is obvious, so much so that he banked on this adaptation amidst skyrocketed post-“Mommy” expectations. “What’s most gripping in Lagarce’s text is how nervous all the characters are and how they express things often that are very superficial or useless,” he explained.
It took a bit of time for Ulliel to get used to the non-stop feedback Dolan is known for giving during a shoot. “At first, it can feel a bit too interventionist, but it becomes very rewarding and passionate,” the actor said. “He’s with us every second, capturing our every move.”
Meanwhile, Seydoux complemented her co-star’s statement by calling Dolan “very precise, and since he’s also an actor himself, the communication between us was very fluid. He makes us want to give everything. We love Xavier and we all want to be loved by him,” she said.
Cassel agreed. “Xavier is extremely precise — a year before the shoot, everything was ready, even the lighting. But then during the shoot itself he gave us some freedom.”
“I loved the film,” Cotillard added.
Some critics have complained that the director underused the talented Cotillard by giving her a background role that never fully delivers on her potential. The actress’ rebuttal? “My character Catherine says very little, but when she talks it’s as if a flood of incoherences came out of her mouth: it’s mostly aborted sentences and redundancies. At first I was terrified by my text and then I understood that her monologues were like the sound of silence,” said Cotillard.
Dolan says the movie is more about the “messages that are not in the language, but in the silence and looks in the characters’ faces.” He went on to say that he was drawn to this project because it was about human imperfections. “In real life people cry, people scream. They talk about everything except what they really feel.” Dolan admitted he was nervous during the press conference, but stated, “I come from a popular environment. I don’t have a deep knowledge of auteur cinema. My wish as a director has always been to make films that I would like to see in theaters.”
Dolan is already working on his follow-up to “It’s Only the End of the World,” which will also be his American directorial debut. “The Life of John F. Donovan,” starring Jessica Chastain, Kit Harington, Taylor Kitsch, Kathy Bates, Susan Sarandon, Natalie Portman, Nicholas Hoult, and Thandie Newton is gearing up to shoot this summer.
Check out the rest of our coverage from the 2016 Cannes Film Festival by clicking here.