175) I Killed My Mother (2009) Dir: Xavier Dolan Date Released: XX 2012 Date Seen: May 29, 2012 Rating: 2.25/5
After watching this, I'm still unconvinced Mr. Dolan is anything more than a filmmaker that indulges his young, pretty things' angst. Mother's lead protagonist behaves petulantly, without a doubt. But Dolan never really explores why his bratty avatar and his mother's stand-in (this is semi-autobiographical) behave the way they do. As in Heartbeats, the film's text and subtext are conflated: shrill histrionics replace thoughtfully interrogative moments where protagonists risk really share themselves and/or think about why they behave the way they do around each other.
I remember liking this more when I watched it. But now, I don't even remember why apart from the fact that I saw my relationship with my mother echoed in the film's drama. Still, I don't recall Mother being that thoughtful or even being particularly moving. I just thought, "Oh, yeah, been there." And that's not enough.
