The Death and Life of John F. Donovan

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Movie
Original title The Death and Life of John F. Donovan
Country of production Canada
original language English
Publishing year 2018
length 127 minutes
Rod
Director Xavier Dolan
script Xavier Dolan,
Jacob Tierney
music Gabriel Yared
camera André Turpin
cut Mathieu Denis ,
Xavier Dolan
occupation

The Death and Life of John F. Donovan is a film drama directed by Xavier Dolan that premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2018 and was released in Canadian cinemas on August 23, 2019.

action

Rupert Turner has always been a huge fan of John F. Donovan. A decade has now passed since the TV star died alone and unexpectedly after a series of scandals. Rupert, now a successful actor himself, remembers the written correspondence he had with Donovan for five years after the then 11-year-old became his secret pen pal. The letters had an impact on both of their lives, and they gave Rupert a unique insight into the TV star's soul. Rupert sums up the correspondence with Donovan and in an interview reveals to reporter Audrey Newhouse everything he knows about his turbulent life, including what compromises he made for fame and how the man he adored inspired him as a little boy Has.

production

Directed by Xavier Dolan , who wrote the screenplay for the film together with Jacob Tierney . It is Dolan's first film in English. The score was composed by Gabriel Yared .

Filming took place in Montréal , London , New York and Prague .

Actually, the film was supposed to be shown at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2017 , come to Canadian cinemas in January 2018 and also be presented in Cannes in May 2018. Since Dolan was not satisfied with the film, the theatrical release was not specifically named Released in 2018. At the beginning of August 2018 it was announced that the film would be shown for the first time at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2018 . The world premiere there took place on September 10, 2018. At the end of July and beginning of August 2019 it was shown at the Jerusalem Film Festival . The film was released in Canadian cinemas on August 23, 2019.

Jessica Chastain and Bella Thorne starred in the film, but their scenes were removed from the final cut by director Dolan.

reception

Reviews

Stephen Dalton of The Hollywood Reporter notes that Xavier Dolan has always shared the critics. The latter's typically strong visual eye and sense of emotional fireworks are, however, unusually muted in The Death and Life of John F. Donovan . Even though he made this film in English, Dolan's recurring obsessions still played a defining role, and his semi-autobiographical mothers were once again a major source of the drama. This time he tells of it not just in one, but in two parallel plots about sensitive young men who are in a permanent psychological war with their dominant mothers. However, it seems that Dolan has fallen so in love with these autobiographical characters that he makes them neither charming nor accessible to his viewers. The polished film offers at least some sensual pleasures, including the lush color schemes of cameraman André Turpin and his elegant cinematography. Gabriel Yared's tough and emotional film music penetrates almost every scene and sometimes even drowns out the dialogue.

In the Guardian newspaper , Benjamin Lee rated The Death and Life of John F. Donovan with only one of five possible points and called the film a "failure". Even Eric Kohn of Indiewire was disappointed and called Dolan's English-language debut as his most worst movie.

Awards

Toronto International Film Festival 2018

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Death and Life of John F. Donovan In: filmstarts.de. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
  2. ↑ http://filmmusicreporter.com/2016/10/05/gabriel-yared-to-score-xavier-dolans-the-death-and-life-of-john-f-donovan/
  3. ↑ Xavier Dolan Shooting New Movie in Prague with Kit Harington, Natalie Portman In: Prague Reporter, February 22, 2017.
  4. ↑ https://theplaylist.net/xavier-dolan-donovan-tiff-20170818/
  5. ↑ https://www.indiewire.com/2018/04/xavier-dolan-the-death-and-life-of-john-f-donovan-cannes-1201952345/
  6. ↑ https://www.movieinsider.com/m13841/the-death-and-life-of-john-f-donovan
  7. ↑ https://montrealgazette.com/entertainment/movies/tiff-2018-xavier-dolans-new-film-to-finally-have-world-premiere
  8. ^ The Death and Life of John F. Donovan. In: jff.org.il. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  9. ↑ Christopher Hooton: Xavier Dolan explains why he cut Jessica Chastain from The Death and Life of John F. Donovan on independent.co.uk (accessed September 20, 2018)
  10. ↑ https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/maria-by-callas-review-1141947
  11. ↑ Benjamin Lee: The Death and Life of John F. Donovan review - Xavier Dolan's wild misfire on theguardian.com (accessed September 20, 2018)
  12. ↑ Eric Kohn: 'The Death and Life of John F. Donovan' Review: Xavier Dolan's Worst Movie Stars Kit Harington as a Depressed TV Star on indiewire.com (accessed September 20, 2018)