In the lead up to the 7th Canadian Film Festival in Australia (August 2012), join us as we countdown the Top 100 Canadian Films of the past 30 years. We'll be posting one film a day leading up to Canada Day on July 1st 2012. Do you agree with our team favourites? Let us know your thoughts!

#20 - Les Amours Imaginaires (Heartbeats)

After an impressive feature film debut (J'ai tué ma mere/ I Killed My Mother) all eyes were on Xavier Dolan when he released his second, Les Amours Imaginaries (Heartbeats), at just 21 years of age.

Heartbeats centres around two best friends, Francis (played by Dolan) and Marie (Monia Chokri) and the strain on their friendship as they both fall desperately in love with the new ‘Adonis’ in town, Nicolas (Niels Schneider).

What is so captivating are the situations they go through which are, for not just me I am sure, all close to home & easy to identify with; the aching anxiety, the waiting, the uncertainty and the rivalry.  The competitiveness between the two friends is both hilarious and stressfully awkward as they both try their hardest to impress and win over the almost oblivious Nicolas.

Further comic relief comes as their fumbling steps are intercut with snippets of interviews from other scorned lovers retelling their heartaches which are all quite amusing, and also scenarios many viewers can connect with (hello to all you Facebook stalkers out there!).

Dolan’s filmmaking style feels so personal, inevitably because his fingerprints are all over it; writer, director, producer, actor, editor, costume design and art department… But much more than that he has such a talent to tell a story and capture the present, in this case a contemporary love triangle, so earnestly & with such a sense of immediacy that it makes him a stand out.

Heartbeats is gorgeous to look at and accompanied by a pretty killer soundtrack; sure, there were a few moments where I couldn’t help but mutter “hipsters” under my breath, but what could be more of the time? I can’t wait to watch his career unfold.

- Karina Libbey

Heartbeats screened in Un Certain Regard at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival and won the Sydney Film Festival’s Official Competition in the same year.

"A fizzing delight that tips a nod to the masters of the French New Wave without sacrificing its identity or sense of freshness." David Parkinson - Empire Magazine