« Oh Canada » directed by Paul SCHRADER
Screened in the official selection at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival
Starring Richard Gere, Uma Thurman, Michael Imperioli, Jacob Elordi
SYNOPSIS
Uma Thurman and Richard Gere star in a film adapted from a novel by Russell Banks.
A famous Canadian documentarian, condemned by illness, grants a final interview to one of his former students to finally reveal the whole truth about his life.
A confession filmed under the eyes of his last wife…
ABOUT “OH, CANADA” NOVEL BY RUSSEL BANKS
“Secrets and lies do not only disguise the liar who acted in secret. They disguise all those whom the liar has kept in the dark, all those he has deceived.”
Famous documentarian and committed left-wing activist, Leonard Fife was one of the sixty thousand Americans who fled to Canada to avoid conscription during the Vietnam War.
Now seventy-seven years old and knowing he is condemned, he has agreed to participate in a filmed interview by one of his former students, Malcolm, who has become his disciple. Fife demanded complete darkness on the set and the constant presence of his wife behind him to listen to what he has to say, far from Malcolm’s expectations. After a life of lies and cowardice, Fife intends to lift the veil on all his secrets.
But as his condition rapidly worsens, his confession does not turn out as he had planned.
REVIEW “OH, CANADA”
Paul Schrader has worked with the biggest names in American cinema, including Sydney Pollack, Martin Scorsese, Brian De Palma, and Steven Spielberg.
He is the director and screenwriter of Taxi Driver, among others, and I had enjoyed the last film he directed, “The Card Counter,” with Oscar Isaac and Willem Dafoe.
The novel had the potential for a great film. But “Oh Canada” in the official selection at the Cannes Film Festival this year disappointed me.
Shot in only seventeen days, the story of this documentary filmmaker does not pass the Bechdel test.*
The actresses have supporting roles, their only purpose being to highlight the male characters.
And the script is dull.
Richard Gere struggles to convince as an old man with cancer. As for Uma Thurman, she does what she can in a story that doesn’t work.
It’s the story of yet another unfaithful, selfish man, a false hero who pays tribute to his wife at the end of his life to ease his conscience.
The Bechdel test has three criteria:
- There must be at least two named women (first/last name) in the work;
- who talk to each other;
- and who talk about something other than a man
About : Cannes Film Festival
