Xavier Dolan’s look book for Mommy – My interview with André Turpin about his striking cinematography for Mommy is in the February issue of American Cinematographer. This post features an interview with the film’s talented director, Xavier Dolan, that I did after the print deadline. I will return to the previous theme of LUTs in a future post. +++ Cinematographer André Turpin with director Xavier Dolan on the set of Mommy +++ Xavier Dolan Xavier Dolan is a French-Canadian wunderkind who directed his first film at the age of 19. Now 25, Dolan presented his fifth film, Mommy, in Cannes’ Main Competition last year, and shared the Cannes Jury prize with Jean-Luc Godard. Mommy’s striking cinematography also earned André Turpin a Bronze Frog at the Camerimage festival last November. Mommy follows the attempts of, Die, a flamboyant French-Canadian single mother, to cope with her hyperactive adolescent son, Steve, who is expelled from school for violent behavior. Die reaches out to Kyla, an introverted school-teacher neighbor, to home school Steve. This unlikely trio bond and create a family of sorts, an environment that offers the promise of healing each person’s pain and isolation. However a lawsuit in the wake of Stevie’s violence threatens to undo this fragile harmony, and wreak havoc on Mommy, her son and her new friend. The film’s simple story is presented in a series of emotional scenes, filmed with originality and brio in a unique 1:1 square aspect ratio. When I saw Mommy, I had that wonderful feeling of seeing an important filmmaker at work. +++ the trailer watch on YouTube +++ inspiration Benjamin B: I wanted to start by saying how lucky you are to work with André Turpin Xavier Dolan: I know how lucky I am, I’m so lucky I found him, I’m so grateful ! BB: I think he feels the same way. I was wondering how you start out on the process of making a film, because you’re writing as well as directing. Does the story first come in images, does it come with a song? XD: Honestly music is often the inspiration, and comes before the script or the story. After hearing songs I will see images and visualize scenes or moments in a story. And that’s often how I start to write. I don’t have a routine, I don’t get up in the morning thinking “Oh, I have to write today”. I write when I have an idea, and music gives me ideas. Once I’ve written the script, I prepare by researching imagery in photography or painting books, or even magazines. Powerful imagery is everywhere and that’s
David Duchovny’s sense of humor – "My favorite was the fan fiction that had Alex Krycek, my nemesis, and me as lovers. It was beautiful."
