Tom at the Farm

Tom at the Farm

Film poster
Directed by Xavier Dolan
Produced by Xavier Dolan
Nathanaël Karmitz
Charles Gillibert
Screenplay by Xavier Dolan
Michel Marc Bouchard
Based on Tom at the Farm 
by Michel Marc Bouchard
Starring Xavier Dolan
Pierre-Yves Cardinal
Lise Roy
Évelyne Brochu
Music by Gabriel Yared
Cinematography André Turpin
Edited by Xavier Dolan
Distributed by MK2 (international sales)
Entertainment One
Release dates
  • 2 September 2013 (Venice)
  • 28 March 2014 (Canada)
Running time
95 minutes
Country Canada
France
Language French

Tom at the Farm (French: Tom à la ferme) is a 2013 psychological thriller directed by Xavier Dolan. The film is based on the play of the same name by Michel Marc Bouchard. It was screened in the main competition section at the 70th Venice International Film Festival on 2 September 2013,[1][2][3] and also at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival in the Special Presentation section.[4] At Venice the film won the FIPRESCI Prize.[5]

The film was a shortlisted nominee for Best Picture at the 2nd Canadian Screen Awards.[6]

Plot

Tom, a young advertising copywriter, travels to the country for the funeral of his boyfriend Guillaume. There, he is shocked to learn that no one knows who he is, nor his relationship to the deceased. Guillaume's brother Francis soon sets the rules of a twisted game. In order to protect the family's name and the deceased's grieving mother, Agathe, Tom now has to play the peacekeeper in a household whose obscure past bodes even greater darkness for his "trip" to the farm.

Production

After completing his 2012 feature film Laurence Anyways, Dolan felt that "a change of direction was needed" since, in his own words, the previous three movies dealt with the subject of impossible love.[7] Having seen a production of the play a year earlier, he contacted Bouchard about adapting it for the screen. He was fascinated by the play's violence and brutality and felt it could be explored further on screen. Dolan also liked the role of the mother in the play, since "mothers and sons, .. exhausted mothers is always appealing" to him.[8]

Initially Dolan had the idea to not use music in the film. He thought that silence and sounds of howling wind and creaking floorboards would increase the tension. This idea was scrapped during the editing process, and he asked the Academy Award-winning composer Gabriel Yared to create the score for the film.[7]

Reception

Tom at the Farm has received generally favorable reviews. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 81% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 28 reviews, with an average score of 7.1/10.[9] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian described it as an "intriguing [film] coiled with ardor and fear."[10] Irish Times' Tara Brady gave it five out of five stars and hailed it as a "work of genius", in which Dolan "transforms Michel Marc Bouchard's source stage play into a unique, enigmatic thriller."[11]

Variety's Guy Lodge also wrote a positive review of the film, citing it as "Dolan's most accomplished and enjoyable work to date, ... also his most commercially viable". He praised the "glorious" score by Yared and the "gorgeous" cinematography of André Turpin.[12]

David Ehrlich in his review for Film.com gave the film a rating of 7.7, writing that "Tom at the Farm is occasionally impenetrable as a drama, it's seldom less than gripping as an exercise in suspense." Ehrlich also noted the score: "certain scenes feel like they exist only to provide a visual backdrop for Gabriel Yared's urgently bleating string score".[13]

The Hollywood Reporter's critic David Rooney reviewed the film unfavorably and criticized Dolan for being self-obsessed. He wrote: "It's also hard to take the film seriously when scene after scene explores the director's face with such swooning intoxication. Shots of Tom are held and held and then held some more—at the wheel of his car, in the cornfields, running in slow motion with his blond locks dancing in the breeze, sitting pensively on a bed in his underwear, or looking out through a screen door as a single tear streaks his face, like Anne Hathaway in Les Miserables".[14] Dolan replied to the Rooney in a tweet: "You can kiss my narcissistic ass."[15]

Cast

Awards and nominations

Award Category Recipient(s) Result
Venice International Film Festival Golden Lion Xavier Dolan Nominated
FIPRESCI Award Xavier Dolan Won
Canadian Screen Awards Best Motion Picture Nominated
Best Direction Xavier Dolan Nominated
Best Actress in a Supporting Role Evelyne Brochu Nominated
Best Actor in a Supporting Role Yves Cardinal Nominated
Best Adapted Screenplay Michel Marc Bouchard and Xavier Dolan Nominated
Best Overall Sound François Grenon, Olivier Goinard, Sevan Koryan and Sylvain Brassard Nominated
Best Sound Editing Guy Francoeur, Isabelle Favreau and Sylvain Brassard Nominated
Best Achievement In Music: Original Score Gabriel Yared Nominated

References

  1. "Venezia 70". labiennale. Retrieved 2013-07-27.
  2. "Venice film festival 2013: the full line-up". The Guardian (London). 25 July 2013. Retrieved 2013-07-27.
  3. "2 September". www.labiennale.org. Venice Film Festival. Retrieved 2013-08-16.
  4. "Tom at the Farm". TIFF. Retrieved 2013-08-07.
  5. "Quebec director Xavier Dolan takes prize in Venice, film to screen at TIFF". Globe and Mail (Toronto). 7 September 2013. Retrieved 2013-09-07.
  6. "Canadian Screen Awards: Orphan Black, Less Than Kind, Enemy nominated". CBC News, January 13, 2014.
  7. 7.0 7.1 "Tom at the Farm" (PDF). MK2 Pro. Retrieved March 14, 2014.
  8. Dolan, Xavier. Xavier Dolan Interview - Tom at the Farm. Interview with Matt Rorabeck. Retrieved March 14, 2014.
  9. "Tom at the Farm". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
  10. Bradshaw, Peter (April 3, 2014). "Tom at the Farm (Tom à la Ferme) review". The Guardian. Retrieved April 5, 2014.
  11. Brady, Tara (April 4, 2014). "Tom at the Farm/Tom à la Ferme". Irish Times. Retrieved April 5, 2014.
  12. Lodge, Guy (September 2, 2013). "Venice Film Review: 'Tom at the Farm'". Variety. Retrieved March 14, 2014.
  13. Ehrlich, David (September 7, 2013). "TIFF Review: ‘Tom at the Farm’". Film.com. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
  14. Rooney, David (September 2, 2013). "Tom at the Farm: Venice Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
  15. Kelly, Brendan (September 2, 2013). "Xavier Dolan hits back at Hollywood Reporter after rough review of Tom à la ferme". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved March 31, 2014.

External links