Leonard Fife, an eminent documentarian and an emblematic figure of the left, is dying. Former students of his, also documentarians, arrive at his bedside for a final interview. From the outset, Leonard declares that he wants to tell “the whole truth” and this, for the first time. Indeed, he tells his stunned loved ones, his reputation is based on a lie. Through reminiscences, in front of the camera, Leonard remembers, frankly, inexorably. Unveiled in official competition in Cannes, Oh, Canaand is for Paul Schrader “his great film about death”: a production shot in a hurry after the veteran filmmaker himself feared for his life, as he told us during an exclusive interview.
Note thatOh, Canada is based on the penultimate novel by Russell Banks, who died in 2023. In 1997, Paul Schrader adapted another work by the writer: Afflictionexcellent film shot in Quebec.
” From AfflictionRussell and I were friends,” explains Paul Schrader, joined by videoconference in his New York apartment.
“Russell was a good, generous, funny and brilliant man. He used to entertain people at his home in the Catskills. One summer I called him to see if I could visit him. That’s when he told me he was undergoing chemotherapy treatments. At the same time, I read this novel that he had just published, about a dying director…”
However, it turns out that Paul Schrader had been thinking about making a film exploring this theme for a while. “All directors, one day or another, want to make their “great film about death”,” explains the filmmaker, with a knowing smile on his lips.
Shortly after, Paul Schrader, now 78 years old, was hit hard by COVID-19.
“I almost stayed there. Knowing that you can’t make a film about death when you’re on your deathbed yourself, I told myself that, if I survived, I should hurry up and make this film. I felt an urgency, but also the adrenaline that comes with the feeling of urgency. When I told him of my desire to adapt his novel, Russell was excited. I’m just sad that he left before I could finish the script…”
Even more “meta” than the novel due to the nature of Leonard’s profession, the film shows how this director comes to take a lucid look at his celebrated, but fantasized, past. Of American origin, Leonard Fife recently emigrated to Canada so as not to go fight in Vietnam: his heroic aura stems from this act of defiance. Subsequently, his activist documentaries often made headlines and solidified his status as an idol of the left.
But it’s all just a myth that the person concerned intends to debunk while he still has all his faculties. And the protagonist to revisit his memory, literally. Thus, an aged Leonard emerges in his memories, observing the young man he once was, even taking his place with a friend, a lover…
In fact, memory is one of the main themes of the film. In this regard, another personal element that influenced the project, and a heartbreaking one, is the fact that in 2023, Paul Schrader’s long-time partner, the actress Mary Beth Hurt, had to be admitted to a center for people with Alzheimer’s disease.
Mosaic structure
Faced with this character of a director who, in these last moments of lucidity, takes stock without complacency of his journey, was Paul Schrader tempted to do the same?
After thinking about the question, the filmmaker responds: “Honestly? Not really, no. I am aware that having a director character could perhaps create the impression of a partly autobiographical statement, but that is not at all the case. To tell the truth, if it had been an original screenplay, I would have rather made the protagonist a painter. You know, you have to maintain a distance between you and your characters. Objectivity, you understand? What I liked about Russell’s novel, apart from the subject of the end of life and everything that comes up, is the mosaic narrative structure. »
A structure with which Paul Schrader is familiar since his remarkable Mishima: A Life in Four Chaptersin 1985. Like this film, which takes different formal approaches, Oh, Canada multiplies the image ratios (1.33: 1, 2.39: 1…) and the chromatic biases, from the saturated autumnal colors of the present, to the pastel then black and white colors of the different layers of the past.
-“When you have a kind of puzzlewhich you play with different levels of realities — Leonard’s last day, Richmond’s journey to the Canadian border, his son’s point of view, some random memories that appear out of nowhere, etc. —, you use a distinct palette and image ratio. It’s not because I want to show off. It’s just a way of simplifying things so that people can intuitively know what place and time they are in. »
Besides Mishima, Oh, Canada summons another previous success of Paul Schrader: American Gigolo (The American gigolo). This, because it is none other than Richard Gere, star of this fabulous neo-noir released right in 1980, who plays Leonard Fife — Jacob Elordi, seen in Saltburnplays the young character.
“There are several considerations behind my decision to offer the role to Richard,” reveals the filmmaker. There is the basely commercial dimension, and a whole bunch of excellent, well-known actors would have been very good as Leonard. But beyond that, you start thinking, as a director, and you ask yourself who would be interesting in the role; which would be unexpected. Suddenly I thought of Richard again. Richard has never played an old man. And that’s interesting, it’s unexpected. For a director, it’s exciting. »
Paul Schrader has only good words for Richard Gere in this case. “We had so little money… At one point, the production was in trouble and Richard came to me and said: ‘You know, Paul, if you want, you can reduce my fee to zero: It doesn’t bother me at all.” »
A man alone
In short, Paul Schrader may not have carried out a career review, but the fact remains thatOh, Canada has something of a sum-work. And it is not only in view of the subliminal references to Mishima and to American Gigolo.
Indeed, Oh, Canada sometimes displays the Bressionian austerity of Schrader’s recent trilogy (First Reformed/Dialogue with God ; The Card Counter ; Master Gardener), sometimes the more stylized formal treatment of earlier films such Cat People (The feline), or The Comfort of Strangers (Strange seduction).
Above all, Leonard Fife constitutes another of these “Schraderian” antiheroes walled in solitude, even in the middle of a crowd, even when a possible love manifests itself. There was the aforementioned trilogy, and before that Hardcore, American Gigolo, Light Sleeper, Affliction, The Walker… Not to mention screenplays written for Martin Scorsese: Taxi Driver, The Last Temptation of Christ (The last temptation of Christ), Bringing Out the Dead (Resurrect the dead)…
“This loneliness in several of my male characters… It’s something that creeps into my projects despite myself,” admits Paul Schrader. But once I realize it, I open the door like an old friend and say: “Come on, come in: I was waiting for you.” »
As surrounded as he is, Leonard Fife, who contemplates his imminent death, is perhaps the loneliest of all…
Responding to this observation, Paul Schrader continues: “You know, I am currently finishing a new script. It’s about a philosophy professor. And he’s another one of those lonely guys. I met this guy, basically, as a taxi driver once. [dans Taxi Driver]and I came back to him occasionally, throughout my career. This character, this figure, has become a bit of my trademark. »
From this last confidence, we retain this: a new scenario. In other words, “great film about death” or not, there is no question for Paul Schrader of delivering his will with Oh, Canada.
The movie Oh, Canada hits theaters on January 10.
