Tom at the Farm (2013) "Tom a la ferme" (original title)
Director: Xavier Dolan
Writer: Xavier Dolan, Michel Marc Bouchard
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: Canada, France
Language: French
Duration: 102 min
Year: 2013
Site: Facebook
Stars: Xavier Dolan, Pierre-Yves Cardinal, Lise Roy
It has been a long time since I watched such an intense film like this. Actually, to me, it is the most thrilling gay film until now I have ever watched.
From the beginning of the film, viewers will witness a man named Tom who came to the funeral of someone. Bit by bit we understand that was the funeral of a man named Guillaume who Tom had a vauge relationship with. Things are more weird when one night Tom was threatened by Guillaume's brother, Francis, and viewers became more and more irritated and curious to find out what roles of Francis and Tom are exactly and why Guillaume and Francis' mother seems to be such an incomprehensible woman.
Watching the film, viewers will be thrilled by the paradox and obstacle of one life in his own thought. Life is full of lies. People often define them as white lies to make things less serious and repairable, but do they know they are just 'darker', more dangerous to others and even themselves when they cannot escape from their tragedy of having to keep something that they think they should. The film is an objective reflection of what humans may seem to be and what they really are. However, the film also sheds light on the long-lasting truth that there is no pure evil and complete kindness. The question lies in how much evilness one may turn to and in what aspects may one find the goodness in others.
In the end, when acceptance no longer exists and even tolerance does not remain any more, people have to take steps, but those steps, again in an ironical way, may or may not lead to what they forecast.
In a thousand times they ask what they should do. In a million times they think and answer that they do not know. In the film, Tom does not ask but he acts. He does think but his action reveals to us that there is always a paradox of emotions, feelings and people often use force to suppress their loneliness, just to make things harder and more painful. 
Throughout the film, every character is so real, so truthful, so artistic, not in the words they say but in the eyes the audiences may observe. Their actions are the directs results of a very long battle of their mind and their heart, of what they should do and can do, of what choices they think they have in such a sarcastic situation. The film builds an objective reflection of truth and lies, of happiness and sorrow, of violence and tenderness, both in a physcial and emotional way.
In my own opinion, those who have experieced similar contexts will find their own thoughts in the characters', and those who want to love and treasure the love towards human and life, they should watch this film, just to understand the paradox of human life, both in their actions and thinking.
Review by feliht on Orvel.me
Fist of all, I should tell ya that I never been excited to watch a movie for a really long time; you know that excitement when you watch the trailer over 10 times in a row. yeah, I got excited this much to watch Laurence Anyways. and as a Xavier Dolan's huge fan that makes me know for sure that this movie is gonna be a pure art. and I don't even really care that much about directors. but DAMN! Xavier Dolan is the perfect man. No, I really mean it. he's gorgeous and talented in so many ways. Although all of the films he directs are about homosexuality, but what the heck! sometimes I hesitate to recommend any of his films to people I know cause I fear they might be narrow minded about all of the homosexuality stuff. Personally, I wouldn't mind watching a Xavier Dolan's film everyday and I'd still enjoy it as if it was the first time I watch it. I killed my mother, heartbeats, and now laurence anyways.
When I posted on twitter that I'm so excited to watch it. my friend replied saying, "it's a bold movie." well, I don't know how dirty films like the hangover are okay to watch and a masterpiece like this is "bold"! One thing I noticed about Xavier's Dolan films, is that he tries not to show us nude scenes, cause it ain't pretty. nobody wants to see butts or whatsoever, well, maybe perverts want to, but that's not the point. that is to say, even sex scenes are somehow beautiful and amazing, like the sex scene in 'I killed my mother' with all the painting and the sad sex desperate sex scenes in 'heartbeats'. you can clearly understand what Dolan is implying. In Laurence Anyways, Dolan portrays the relationship between Laurence and his girlfriend as a happy couple who are madly in love with each other, before they gradually collapse. What I'm truing to say here is that Dolan never fails at impressing his audience.
