MATTHIAS & MAXIME: A Review by Sofia Migaly
From MATTHIAS & MAXIME by Xavier Dolan.
In honor of Pride Month, this is the fourth and final installment of our weekly Reeling Pride Month Film Showcase presented by MUBI. We are also celebrating the upcoming 41st edition of Reeling: The Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival.
Thanks to MUBI we are thrilled to present the Canadian drama MATTHIAS & MAXIME by Xavier Dolan, accompanied by the short film SOME TROPICS OF CANCER by T.J. Blanco.
Don’t forget to take advantage of MUBI’s exclusive 30-day free-trial offer at www.mubi.com/reeling
Trailer for MATTHIAS & MAXIME.
After losing a bet, Matthias (Gabriel D'Almeida Freitas) and his lifelong friend Maxime (Xavier Dolan), who is preparing to move abroad, must act in a film whose script calls for them to kiss one another. Deeply buried feelings surface, threatening their relationship with one another and the rest of their friends.
MATTHIAS & MAXIME (2019) creates drama and yearning, employing the classic “will they, won’t they” tension often seen in romance movies, but to a genuine effect. As the film centers around a group of rowdy friends, the soundscape is often chaotic with chatter and music, but these scenes are no less pensive than the more tender and quiet moments. Voyeuristic camerawork through cracked-open doors and loosely-shuttered windows, as if the viewer is seeing something they are not supposed to, expresses the fear of being seen and exposes the anxieties of internalized homophobia.
MATTHIAS & MAXIME explores the painful world of repressed desire and identity, holding back none of its frustration. The film asks us: What does it mean to be prideful in a world that seems bent on keeping queerness in the constraints of secrecy?
Visit Chicago Filmmakers, Friday June 30th at 7PM, for the final screening in the MUBI-presentation of The Reeling Pride Film Showcase.
For tickets: www.chicagofilmmakers.org/upcoming-screenings-and-events/
A review by Sofia Migaly
