Picture of the movie Matthias et Maxime ( Matthias and Maxime ) © Shayne Laverdiere
Matthias et Maxime (Matthias and Maxime), Xavier Dolan explores issues of identity
With ten years of work and eight feature films under his belt, Xavier Dolan never fails to dazzle at the Festival de Cannes. After winning the Jury Prize for Mommy in 2014 and the Grand Prix for Juste la fin du monde (It's Only the End of the World) in 2016, Xavier Dolan makes his much anticipated return in Competition with Matthias et Maxime (Matthias and Maxime), a drama that explores the themes of friendship and identity.
After a stint in the United States with The Death and Life of John F. Donovan, in which a young actor looks back over his correspondence with his favourite actor, Xavier Dolan returns to his home turf of Québec with Matthias et Maxime (Matthias and Maxime), the story of two childhood friends who share a kiss as part of their roles in an amateur short film, prompting them to reflect on their preferences and throwing their lives off kilter.
“Matthias et Maxime (Matthias and Maxime) is about that moment when young adults, from different backgrounds and classes, come of age, and begin to question where they belong, as I did.”
Filmed in part with a shoulder rig, Matthias et Maxime (Matthias and Maxime) is a kind of diary, a patchwork of moments in the characters' lives that form continuous chapters, with no flashbacks – a way of working that was "exciting to explore", according to the filmmaker, who marks a return to the aesthetics of Tom à la ferme (Tom at the Farm) and the energy of Mommy in this new feature film.
The director, who hadn't stepped in front of the camera since Tom à la ferme (Tom at the Farm), plays Maxime alongside Gabriel D’Almeida-Freitas as Matthias. To support them, Xavier Dolan called on the talents of a group of friends, as well as actors he knows well and who contributed to the success of his earlier films, including Anne Dorval, his cinematic muse. A firm believer in the filmmaker's work since his beginnings in 2009, the latter played the mother in his earlier films J’ai tué ma mère (I Killed My Mother), Les Amours imaginaires (Heartbeats) and Mommy.
