It’s difficult to imagine a time in which Xavier Dolan wasn’t an omnipotent presence in the contemporary arthouse. A filmmaker who has shown the ability to be both prolific and an exceptional craftsman, Dolan as become a staple of many conversations as to the current generation of filmmakers. However, there was a time in which he wasn’t considered the pinnacle of a new wave of auteurs, but rather stood as a feisty young upstart who was making a name for himself as someone who was single-handedly returning the film industry to the melodrama that was left behind after the careers of Mikio Naruse and Douglas Sirk ended. This isn’t to suggest that Dolan was their perfect successor, but rather the one filmmaker who managed to combine the traditions of the past with a more modern sensibility, which led to some exquisite productions. His sophomore feature directorial effort is one that doesn’t come up in conversation when retrospectively considering his career – and this isn’t to suggest that Heartbeats (French: Les Amours Imaginaires) is a bad film by any means, but rather that it’s one that has been mostly forgotten due to its positioning being quite awkward. It doesn’t have the gritty, visceral realism of I Killed My Mother, or the bold and extravagant, highly-conceptual melodrama of the films that followed – it is caught between two very distinct styles, suffering not from its own weaknesses (of which there are a few, albeit not anything particularly insurmountable with the right mindset), but rather the fact that it came about at a time when perhaps Dolan wasn’t fully ready to tell this story. However, putting these petty complaints aside, and instead focusing on the many strengths of the film, we can see how (in much the same way that his later films are regarded), Heartbeats is a solid film that combines beautiful melodrama with vaguely-surreal filmmaking, turning it into quite an effective drama that wears its heart on its sleeve, and demonstrates itself as entirely willing to take some risks.

We’ve seen this kind of story before – two good friends, one of them straight, the other queer, fall in love with someone who seems to be interested in both of them. What starts as a vaguely adorable conflict of interests eventually turns into a complex ménage a trois, and then subsequently causes a rift in the friendship, with the general opinion being that nothing can separate two individuals more than sharing feelings for the same person. This subject has been explored on a few occasions, but normally through the lens of something more upbeat and humorous, since it is a situation that does pander more to the comedic, as the general sensibility is that its an awkward situation that can extract genuine laughs, while still carrying a social message. Anyone with even the vaguest knowledge of how Dolan operates will immediately tell you that he is not a filmmaker that leans into the comedic all that often – all of his films have a tongue-in-cheek humour at times, but they’re mainly very serious affairs, with lighthearted moments being used as a creative tool to both break the monotony of melodrama, as well as elevate the mood, since his films always tend to focus on more harrowing subject matter. Heartbeats is a film that works better in theory than it does in execution, especially since there are clearly some slight teething problems in how Dolan goes about making this film. He was (and still is, as many envious members of the industry will doubtlessly remark) a very young filmmaker, one whose ambitions sometimes outweigh his skills, especially so early in his career – so it stands to reason that the dedicated upstart would encounter a few obstacles in realizing his vision, and whether this manifested more notably in the narrative, or in its execution, the slight flaws are evident but still have a certain nuance to them that prevent the film from falling entirely into disrepair, to the point where the shortcomings become somewhat endearing in their own right.

The schadenfreude felt towards to relatively new, young filmmakers has been a consistent source of contention for many artists, with the belief being that experience will always trump talent, regardless of the situation, since the lessons learned along the way are far more valuable to artistic expression. Considering this is a film made by someone who had only just reached legal age, we have very little choice but to be impressed by how Dolan weaves together a story, and manages to execute it with a precision with which many filmmakers who had been involved in the industry for decades would struggle. Whether it comes from several years as a working actor in his native Canada, or simply the possibility that he was just that extraordinarily gifted, Dolan’s work in Heartbeats is worth noting, especially in contrast with his aforementioned debut, I Killed My Mother. This film certainly develops on his style, giving him slightly more elaborate resources to work with, and the opportunity to experiment – but instead of going any entirely different direction, Dolan instead chooses to follow a similar path, creatively bolstering his vision, but staying true to his ideals. As a director who is unapologetic in how he explores queer issues (while never resting entirely on them, using issues of individuality as a means to explore bigger concepts), and who never trivializes the lives of his protagonists who are suffering from their own crises of identity, Dolan finds common-ground between his stories and the audience, giving us unfettered access into the lives of his characters, and how they traverse an uncertain world around them. Even in a relatively simple story of two friends being driven apart due to their shared interest in a man who may not even feel the same about them, there’s a level of complexity that is truly admirable, refusing to underplay the important themes of identity, while still taking the time to make something relatable and real, avoiding all cliché, and instead focusing on the more honest, authentic issues presented to us.

There’s something very compelling about the manner in which Heartbeats appropriates its themes, telling a convincing story of desire and heartbreak without ever coming close to being inappropriately heavy-handed in how it executes some of these ideas. Part of this comes from Dolan, who exhibited a strong sense of restraint from the earliest days of his directorial career. Brimming with youthful energy, but still very much in control of his craft, his work here reflects a keen understanding of the human condition, which is so vivid and nuanced, we’d have expected this to be the product of a weathered industry veteran, rather than a young wunderkind who had only made his directorial debut a year before, but was already establishing himself as someone to watch. Over a decade later, and we’re still relishing in the exceptional work Dolan has produced since then, only growing more mature and interesting as he has progressed, with the seeds of his brilliance being present in every frame of this film, which carries the same dedication and conviction to his craft that he’d continuously develop. This isn’t to suggest that Heartbeats is in any way a perfect film – it’s certainly rough around the edges, and could’ve benefitted from being made later on in Dolan’s career, since there are some ideas here that may not have been poorly-executed in this specific film, but might’ve been developed in a more interesting manner had Dolan made it after a few years of filmmaking, where his experiences, both professionally and personally, may have informed much of what this film was trying to convey. Yet, despite all of this, the jagged imperfections are essentially what gives Heartbeats its unique perspective, especially since much of what drives this story forward is the idea of youthful naivete coming into conflict with a more mature world, which seems to have been a pivotal factor in this film, both in front of the camera and behind it.

There’s a soulfulness to Heartbeats that is difficult to ignore. This isn’t a film produced by a self-serving egotistical young filmmaker, and allegation often thrown at Dolan (although not always being entirely undeserved, since his melodramatic presence can sometimes rival the stories he tells in his films). Instead, this is a beautifully-poetic story about two young people finding their way through a world they don’t quite understand, told with a spirited honesty that is difficult to come by in such a condensed, honest form, traversing boundaries that are often avoided entirely, since they bring with them a sense of insurmountable difficulty. Barely an adult in his own right, Dolan was clearly working through his own quandaries (especially since he portrays one of the two central characters), finding an understanding of some of life’s more intimidating issues through his active participation in a story of realizing that desire isn’t always as easy to suppress as we imagine it could be, and that the heart occasionally will take us in directions that may be exciting, but can also cause us to fall further than we ever have before. There are some jarring moments in the film (such as the sporadic deviations into lengthy discussions between unrelated characters, forming something of a Greek chorus, debating issues of sexuality, gender identity and coming of age in the millennial era), but it all comes together exceptionally well, being a stark and earnest portrait of the human condition that frequently avoids stereotype as far as possible. Packaging an array of stunning ideas into the film, and executing it with grace, precision and deeply moving honesty, Dolan takes us on a wonderfully resonant journey that may resound with a very specific kind of authenticity, but will doubtlessly give us insights into the mind of its complex protagonist, and the masterful filmmaker responsible for their creation.