Xavier Dolan opens up about his premature retirement: “I no longer have the desire”

“Hayao Miyazaki said that making films only brings suffering. And that’s somewhat true.”

In the pages of the new issue of GQ Francethe comedian Lucas Bravo (Emily in Paris) asks a director of his age, Xavier Dolan. Becoming an actor at a very young age, he caused a sensation by producing very personal works in his twenties, for which he received multiple awards, notably at the Cannes Film Festival for Mommy (2014) and Just the end of the world (2016). It was on the Croisette, while presenting their films, that the two men met and became friends.

Their discussion takes place remotely, one living in Canada and the other in France, and Dolan opens up about his career and his desire to retire, even before celebrating his 35th birthday. Which leads his friend to ask him what’s wrong with him “pushes you to become the youngest retiree in cinema?”

“I didn’t expect this disgust, this weariness, answers the one who came out exhausted from the manufacture of its first series, The day Laurier Gaudreault woke up. I have no bitterness but I detach myself. I no longer have the desire. I am too passionate about my job to be confronted with the lack of passion and rigor of other people who intervene later in the life of a film. Too much passion to face the fact that people don’t want to travel to see my film or subscribe to a channel to watch my series. I don’t want to be confronted with this information again. Hayao Miyazaki said that making films only brought suffering. And that’s kind of true.”

Xavier Dolan then reacts to the fact that the latest film by the master of Japanese animation, The Boy and the Heronwas released without promotion in Japan: “I can’t do that. To talk about a film, you have to travel, talk about it, give interviews, put up with being asked over and over again how the idea for a film came to me …It doesn’t interest me anymore. It used to interest me when the urgency of the next project was so strong that it made me forget about creating the habit.”

Xavier Dolan clarifies his comments on cinema, but confirms that he is retiring

Through Lucas Bravo’s questions, we understand that Dolan has always wanted to make cinema that matters, and that resembles him. “I like the idea of ​​being able to change things with films, of going against the narrow-mindedness of certain people, he explains in particular. The common denominator of my films remains the same: ‘It’s us against them, the margin against the norm’. I think there is a correlation between my abandonment of cinema and my abandonment of the world in general. Recently, I was in London to shoot a commercial. I usually read Apple News when I wake up in the morning. I only see bad news, all the time. The world is burning, our civilization is coming to an end. The planet will rebuild itself but we humans are reaching the end of a chapter. We are heading towards a monumental change in our existence and many remain in denial. It makes me lose a lot of hope in our humanity. The idea of ​​making a film for the cinema suddenly becomes very ridiculous.”

On his way of perceiving the profession of director, he also justifies his desire to control everything on his own films: the direction, of course, but also the music, the editing, the photography… as well as the acting, since he often offers himself a (first) role.

“I make films to talk about what bothers me, analysis Xavier Dolan. What troubles me personally or in others. My films are always therapeutic, but it is not necessarily to exorcise personal trauma. You said I had trouble delegating. In fact, I am a director, which means controlling all the elements. Work as a team and have your own vision. Several visions collide when you create a film: that of a cinematographer, an artistic director, a composer… All the directors I love touch everything. That a director could think that ‘costumes are a girl’s thing’, for me, it’s crap. A director who is not interested in all aspects of a film is not really one. I don’t understand how you can sign a film without taking responsibility for all the choices made in it. I delegate but I decide everything because it’s my film. Just like a painter chooses his oils, his brushes…”

Dolan also returns during this exchange to his strong speeches made in Cannes, notably when he said on stage, when being honored with the Grand Prize for Just the end of the world : “Everything I do in life is to be loved”. “When you don’t know exactly who you are, when you’re thrown into the public arena at a young age like I was, you try to impress, he comments now. You’re looking for this kind of performance, to be validated by others. As time went on and I got older, I realized that I didn’t need to impress people. I think I finally found them around the time I became simple. It takes time to realize it.”

The full interview with Xavier Dolan by Lucas Bravo can be read here.

“We can change the world through our dreams”: Xavier Dolan’s speech after his Jury Prize for Mommy