MUBI brings you a great new film every day.  Start your 7-day free trial today!
Watch a new film every day for $4.99.
Try MUBI for FREE.
 

I Killed My Mother

J'ai tué ma mère

Canada

2009

96 Min
Color, Black and White
1.85:1
French
  • Currently 3.7/5 Stars.
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

   |   

DIR Xavier Dolan

EXEC Carole Mondello

PROD Xavier Dolan, Daniel Morin

SCR Xavier Dolan

DP Stéphanie Anne Weber Biron

CAST Anne Dorval, Xavier Dolan, Suzanne Clément, François Arnaud, Monique Spaziani, Niels Schneider, Patricia Tulasne, Pierre Chagnon, Francis Ducharme

ED Hélène Girard

MUSIC Nicholas Savard-L'Herbier

SOUND Sylvain Brassard

Cannes (Quinzaine des Réalisateurs): C.I.C.A.E. Award, Prix Regards Jeune, SACD Prize, Toronto (Special Presentation): Jay Scott Prize, AFI FEST (New Lights Competition), São Paulo (New Filmmakers Competition), Rotterdam (Bright Future), Transilvania (Supernova), Melbourne (First Encounters), Mar del Plata (Panorama), Vancouver (Canadian Images): Best Canadian Feature Film, Stockholm (Competition), Outfest (International Dramatic Feature)

Synopsis

Hubert Minel dislikes his mother. For his sixteen years, with contempt, he only sees her ugly sweaters, kitschy décor and the bread crumbs that lodge in the corners of her lips when she eats noisily. Beyond these irritating things, there is also the manipulation and guilt, mechanisms dear to his Mother. Confused by their love-hate relationship, Hubert also experiences typical adolescent moments – artistic discoveries, experiences of friendship, sex and ostracism. —Quinzaine des Réalisateurs

Director

Original

Xavier Dolan

Xavier Dolan (born March 20, 1989), sometimes credited as Xavier Dolan-Tadros, is a Canadian actor and filmmaker. Formerly a child actor in films such as J’en suis!, Le marchand de sable and La forteresse suspendue and television series such as Omertà, La loi du silence, he attracted international attention when his first film as a director and screenwriter, J’ai tué ma mère, won three awards from the Director’s Fortnight program at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.

After J’ai tué ma mère he directed his second feature film Les amours imaginaires (Heartbeats), which was financed privately. It follows the infatuation of two friends with the same mysterious young man. Inevitably, their friendship suffers. It premiered in the Un Certain Regard category at the 63e Festival de Cannes in May 2010, to standing ovation.

Dolan says that he is planning his third film called Laurence any ways, about a transsexual… read more

Wall

Displaying 4 of 41 wall posts.
Picture of fleurare

fleurare

30Apr13

The only scene I can appreciate is the touching 'I'd die tomorrow' moment. But nothing else. A lot of this movie is the actor/director sobbing in black-and-white over his mummy and walking about at night cheating on his boyfriend to Crystal Castles. If I wanted to see that, I'd go on lame Tumblr blogs. I wouldn't watch a pseudo-intellectual, unfortunate project made by a sulky, pretentious French teenager.

Picture of This is Jake Kath

This is Jake Kath

22Apr13

Nice first feature and it feels like a first picture it. But the bratty drama had me longing for a dysfunctional relationship with my mother. The surfaces of the movie were a bit like Alamodovar but the total package was lacking. I just wish it was more lean and had more muscle.

Picture of Matthew_Lucas

Matthew_Lucas

21Mar13

Xavier Dolan's debut film, about a gay teenager's complicated, love/hate relationship with his own mother, finally gets an American release courtesy of Kino Lorber. It's clearly a first film, often beholden to its inspirations, often evoking Wong Kar Wai and Pedro Almodovar, but Dolan established himself as a talent to watch. Despite its flaws, its a raw, personal, and deeply felt work.

HKFanatic likes this

Picture of fleurare

fleurare

17Mar13

I cannot help but judge anyone who loves this film.

Related Films

Fans

Displaying 5 of 919 fans.

Articles

Our roundup of essays and articles on this film.
W184

Chris Marker, Bill Gunn, ND/NF, More

By David Hudson on March 31, 2010

Max Goldberg in the San Francisco Bay Guardian: "Looking at a map of Paris, the city's rings resemble those of the giant Sequoia cross-section

read article

Lists

Displaying 5 of 181 lists.

Reviews

Displaying 2 of 2

I killed my mother

By Ogier de Beausea​nt on September 21, 2012

’ai tué ma mère 2009
Xavier Dolan’s first film, at 20, after an acting career that started at 4, takes the Truffaut road in what is billed as a semi autobiographical drama of…  read review

Untitled

By Marina on June 4, 2009

This film is amazing and not only because of his director’s youth ; it’s fresh and honest, touching and full of moments of inmersion into the protagonist’s pshyco. But those introspective moments don’t…  read review

Forum

Displaying 1 discussion topic.

Film: I Killed My Mother

3 posts by 3 people over 2 years ago