Laurence Anyways

I saw Laurence Anyways a few years ago now. It only recently occurred to me that is is a WLW film. While of course trans women are women regardless of what stage of their transition they’re in, Laurence Anyways’ lead is a male actor who presents as largely male in the film. Indeed, I worry that the film might not be one that readers of this site would be pleased to see because peak WLW representation is never going to be a movie with a male lead actor. But still, I want to make sure trans narratives are featured on this site. That means there are going to be a few films with cis male actors playing WLW. If this bothers you, I suggest not watching these movies.

The movie tracks several years’ in the life of protagonist Laurence Alia. Laurence is a novelist and teacher with a stable yet passionate relationship with girlfriend Frédérique (Fred). Laurence has been struggling with gender identity and eventually comes out to Fred. The majority of the movie tracks the on-again off-again relationship between Laurence and Fred as Laurence transitions.

The thing about writer/director Xavier Dolan is even when there might be story problems, his films are always beautiful to look at. Dolan’s films tend to have a number of shots that seem to exist so people can post a screencap of them on instagram or tumblr with the hashtag #cinematography. I’m not mad at all about this. I’ve seen all of Dolan’s films. They’re not all good but they’re all gorgeous to look at and have some truly striking shots.

And as a bonus, Laurence Anyways also does have a pretty solid story behind its visuals. This movie came at a pretty good time in Dolan’s career. He already had two films under his hat and was basically on his career upswing which so far has peaked with his fourth film, Mommy. Laurence Anyways was the first of Dolan’s film to have a genuinely good script. There is great character work to be found here.

The core aspect of the film is the relationship between Laurence and Fred. This is also the best part of the story. This is a universal, human story. Yes, Laurence is trans and their relationship queer but the scenes of this relationship hit on universal themes. These characters feel like people, not archetypes. Their relationship feels real. This is helped along by brilliant performances from Melvil Poupaud and Suzanne Clément who sell every word and every emotion.

The biggest problem with the film is a problem that’s true of pretty much all of Dolan’s work; it can be a bit too pretentious and self-congratulatory. Dolan does have issues with pace. He seems so enamoured with both his visuals and his words that he doesn’t always cut as much as he needs to. In general, watching his films always leaves me feeling like Dolan was incredibly smug about every second of the film. I’m obviously pleased that he’s proud of his work but there is an undefined arrogance and pretension that permeates much of his work. Still, the dude made four films before he turned 25. I’d be arrogant too.

Laurence Anyways is not a traditional WLW film. But part of what I want to do with this site is broaden the definition of WLW films. Laurence Anyways is a beautifully shot portrait of a trans woman and her female lover. Perhaps having a cis male lead in this film isn’t ideal but I try and look on the bright side. Xavier Dolan also starred in his first two films and I’m very glad I at least don’t live in a reality in which he didn’t star in Laurence Anyways. That would not have been a good film. But the film we do have, the one starring Melvil Poupaud is pretty damn good.

Overall rating: 7.9/10

Other WLW movies in similar genres