Written by Zheng Cheng for Justine McLellan’s Cinema Styles course
Tom at the Farm (2013), a psychological thriller directed by Xavier Dolan, tells the story of Tom, a young man from Montreal, who attends his deceased boyfriend’s – Guillaume – funeral in rural Quebec. At the remote farm, Tom struggles when he develops an abnormal relationship with his deceased boyfriend’s sadistic brother Francis, whilst simultaneously resisting the temptation to reveal the truth about the nature of his relationship with Guillaume to his mother, Agathe. By employing gloomy and confined settings, wide shots of open spaces, and monotonic and unsettling music, Dolan explores how sexual desire and violence can be intertwined in depressing environments.
Firstly, most scenes in the film take part in a desolate and constrictive setting – the farm, which is also a metaphor for Francis’ situation. This space, combined with the desaturated colours and dark lighting, set a gloomy tone for the entire story. In a review on the Toronto Star, theatre critic Carly Maga offers a description of this setting: “Camellia Koo’s gloomy grey set blends a house, a farm, a cornfield and a pit of cow carcasses (yes, really) with vertical birds that could double as prison cell bars. But the real prisoner isn’t Tom, it’s Francis, confined to the farm because of a violent past and dedication to his mother” (Maga). The farm, with its confined spaces, only limits the physical life of Francis. However, it becomes apparent later in the film that the farm incarnates a psychological prison that makes Francis suffer even more. Francis’ previously violent behaviour towards a man who showed interest for his brother in a local bar have isolated him from almost all social activities in town. On top of this, Francis does not have an affectionate or even normal relationship with the only other human being on the farm – his mother, who, from the very limited dialogues between the two characters, seems to be rather emotional and authoritative. These physical and psychological confinements explain why Francis desires to escape from the farm.
In contrast, wide shots of open spaces are used to generate an atmosphere of quiet terror. Film critic Joanna Di Mattia describes the opening scene as, “[…] an overhead shot follows Tom driving towards the form, positions his car in a vast, blank openness that is unnerving – the opposite of the bucolic feeling we usually get from a rural idyll” (Di Mattia). This extreme wide shot establishes a contrast with the lonely and morose Tom. It almost seems to be yelling to the audience: Look! The rural landscape of cornfield is so vast, yet so empty, with only Tom in his tiny red car that hardly blends with the dried yellow field. Accompanied by Michel Legrand’s song “Les moulins de mon cœur,” it is hard to deny that Tom’s heart is as empty as the landscape. As pointed out by Di Mattia, “long shots and wide shots only magnify the sense of emptiness and Tom’s isolation, externalizing his psychology. This might be an open space, but it’s no less constricting” (Di Mattia).
Another element that contributes greatly to the creation of a thrilling atmosphere is the unsettling music. British film critic Robbie Collin’s comment vividly shows how music functions in this way: “Gabriel Yared’s exceptional score, which sounds like a Bernard Herrman overdose, keeps the unease singing like a kettle on the hob, and when the threat comes close to boiling point, Dolan narrows the screen itself, squeezing his image down into a trembling, tensile strip” (Collin). The scene when Tom arrives at the farm provides a striking example of the use of background music. As Tom wanders around the farm, repetitive music composed of tremolo sounds produced by bowed strings make the audience feel increasingly anxious. Along with the diegetic sounds of cows mooing, Tom’s shouting, and the echoes of his footsteps, the music gradually builds tension as the audience begins to expect the moment to be interrupted by some horrible event. The music builds until it reaches a climax by staying on the final high long note, “close to boiling point,” when Tom eventually finds the boy under the chair outside the door.
In conclusion, Dolan uses gloomy and constrictive setting, wide shots of open spaces, and unsettling music throughout Tom à la ferme to create an ominous and horrifying atmosphere. This contributes to the storyline in which the two main characters, Tom and Francis, are both struggling as they are faced with the dilemma of pursuing their desire or escaping from an abusive relationship.
Works cited
Collin, Robbie. “Tom at the Farm, Review.” The Telegraph, 3 Apr. 2014, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/10741843/Tom-at-the-Farm-review.html
Di Mattia, Joanna. “Why You Should Watch: Tom at the Farm.” SBS What’s On, https://www.sbs.com.au/whats-on/article/why-you-should-watch-tom-at-the-farm/tc1fx9aas
Dolan, Xavier, director. Tom à la Ferme. MK2 productions, Sons of Manual, Arte France Cinéma, 2013.
Legrand, Michel. Les moulins de mon cœur. Les Moulins de Mon Coeur, Decca Records France, 1987.
Maga, Carly. “Tom at the Farm Was Worth the Wait: Review.” Toronto Star, 17 Apr. 2015, https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/stage/tom-at-the-farm-was-worth-the-wait-review/article_97442333-4286-5647-a0e2-b5a76eca3939.html
SUBTEXT JOURNAL 