The mastermind behind iconic movies like “Mommy”, “I killed my mother”, and “It’s Only the End of the World”, 34 years old Xavier Dolan, is quitting directing because he doesn’t “feel like committing two years to a project that barely anyone sees.”
The award-winning Canadian actor and filmmaker told El Pais media “I put too much passion into it to have these disappointments. It makes me wonder if my filmmaking is bad, and I know it’s not.”
His last feature film goes back to 2019, under the title “Matthias & Maxime”, in which he played Maxime.
“I don’t understand what is the point of telling stories when everything around us is falling apart,” Dolan stated.
In a very sad declaration, he said that “Art is useless, and dedicating oneself to the cinema is a waste of time.”
He first publicized his desire to step away from the cinema industry in 2022, explaining that he was tired and didn’t want to do this anymore.
“I want to shoot commercials and build myself a house in the country one day when I have enough money saved. I don’t say that in a sad way at all. I just want to live something else, other experiences,” he further stated.
Dolan’s movies always had prestigious Cannes screenings, making him stand out as a bold talent in contemporary cinema.
Dolan’s fans took to social media to express how saddened they were by the announcement, stating that the young well-polished talent made cinema history in several instances by making original movies capturing raw emotions.
Ram Venkat Srikar, a Twitter user who always discusses the film industry, tweeted “Xavier Dolan quitting filmmaking is a terrible, disappointing reminder of how difficult this profession is. That too coming from the person who made acclaimed films like Mommy, Laurence Anyways and I Killed My Mother only says how little control you can have over how your work is consumed. Or whether it’ll even be seen.”
He continued, “It’s sad and scary. I always go back to something Nagarjuna Akkineni once said about the precarious side of filmmaking. He said something along the lines of cinema being the only field in which hard work doesn’t necessarily warrant success. You work hard and you can only complete the film. Its success is not in your hands. And there’s nothing you can do about it. You can try to market the hell out of the film, and create an illusion of success but cannot dictate the audience to come out of their homes and buy a ticket. It’s so bloody hard. You can only hope that people will embrace it. Just hope.”
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