Oh, Canada (2024)
At his best, director and writer Paul Schrader uses cinema for deeply personal exploration to express the hidden truths of what lives on the inner. From detailing the battle between religious conservatism and the momentum of sex within American culture in 1979's Hardcore to his more recent trilogy of First Reformed, The Card Counter, and Master Gardener which asks how one can still live in a time of environmental crisis, unthinkable war crimes, and the rise of modern Neo-Nazism, Schrader has long looked at the world around him and purged his deepest fears and emotions onto the big screen to stunning results. Coming in as his 24th feature film as Director, Oh, Canada moves the filmmaker's focus onto legacy and death with the tale of a Canadian-American leftist documentary filmmaker named Leonard Fife; a role shared by Richard Gere and Jacob Elordi. Fife is on his deathbed and agrees to give one final interview to set the record straight on his life and journey. Some question if Fife is fully there or is capable of such an interview, but he insists, and the camera roles. The story that comes out of his mouth is shocking not only to the filmmakers capturing the interview but also to his wife Emma (Uma Thurman) who insists Fife is making things up when he forces her to be present at the interview.
Based on Russell Banks' 2021 novel Foregone which tackled the author's own thoughts on death and legacy a couple of years before his unfortunate passing in 2023, Oh, Canada is yet another fantastic feature from Schrader who offers few questions as he blurs the line between reality and fiction, finding a deeper point along the way. Death might seem like the end of the story, but one's legacy continues. Crafted from the lore and identity established and shared when one was alive, legacy is based on an image of someone with no promise that is the deep truth of who they are or what they stood for. Fife is taking this story into his own hands, clearly not content with what will be written about his life and wanting to put his own final statement on the story. While this might seem like a rather clean story of someone untangling a web of lies they have constructed, there are more complexities found at the heart of Oh, Canada which specifically asks the audience how much faith they are willing to put in the words of anyone to be an actual representation of the truth.
Outside of his body of work, the audience doesn't have any objective sources for the story and life of Fife. Similarly, most legacies and social identities are based around words with society choosing to have faith that those stories and those memories are true. In a time when so many use logic to reject religion based on a lack of evidence or proof, calling texts like The Bible just a collection of stories that hold no weight to reality, it feels paradoxical that society then would have faith in the unconfirmed words of others. However, this is even a deeper question within Oh, Canada with Fife being such an unreliable narrator both due to his health and the utter disbelief of his wife. It is impossible to truly know what is happening in the head of Fife, is he perfectly sane and telling the truth? Is Fife's health and memory failing him and he is rambling random thoughts and forgetting the truth? Is Fife purposefully lying to craft a new image of himself before he goes? The film doesn't offer an easy explanation or answer to these questions but instead challenges the audience to engage with its narrative and come to their own conclusions, just like the audience has to every day with the information they are consuming.
This is an even richer challenge considering the amount of misinformation out there in modern times and the current social wars happening revolving around the question of what sources and information should be trusted or not. Again, Schrader has developed a complex and socially relevant pondering that asks impossibly huge questions in a way digestible enough for the audience to wrestle with and engage with. Even if one does not come away with a clean answer, the truth is that it is impossible to fully know the line between reality and fiction, it is still a narrative that is rewarding and worthy. No one is using cinema quite like Schrader with Oh, Canada only furthering to back up this claim.
Not only is Oh, Canada a reunion behind the camera for Schrader by connecting him once again with a Russell Banks novel following Schrader's 1997 adaptation of Banks' 1989 novel Affliction, but the film is also a reunion for Schrader in front of the camera with Richard Gere returning to Schrader's screen following his breakout leading role in 1980's American Gigolo. Gere gives a truly captivating performance of a man seemingly haunted by the identity he has come to live with no concern for the impact his words will have on those around him. It feels like death has freed Fife to do what he wants with no worries about what will happen to him tomorrow considering there is no tomorrow for him. Rising to the challenge is Jacob Elordi who continues to build a strong filmography of dramatic works, showcasing his range between his work here, Emerald Fennell's Saltburn, and Sofia Coppola's Priscilla. Elordi is emotionally intelligent with his performance which often broods and swells with emotion, releasing in controlled bursts that challenge expectations both of him as an actor and Fife as a character.
The editing from Ben Rodriguez Jr. is smooth and successful, balancing different times and perspectives well in tandem with the direction and screenplay from Schrader who is undoubtedly ambitious in his scope and rhythm. Schrader is playful, even swapping Gere and Elordi interchangeably in scenes always with thought and craft. It feels like there are no wasted moments or ideas in Schrader's work, everything has a purpose and is trying to help the audience get sucked deeper into the feature and the rich dialogue within.
Oh, Canada continues Schrader's recent trend of delivering masterpiece after masterpiece as one of cinema's finest and most compelling voices. Both in actual filmmaking ability and in narrative depth, Oh, Canada is a prime example of how talented Schrader is, diving into deep conversations in a way that is far too bold and complex for plenty of modern-day filmmakers to even dream of. In a time where anti-art ideals are becoming more and more common and accepted, voices like Schrader become less and less seen so any new project from him is a real treat.
Based on Russell Banks' 2021 novel Foregone which tackled the author's own thoughts on death and legacy a couple of years before his unfortunate passing in 2023, Oh, Canada is yet another fantastic feature from Schrader who offers few questions as he blurs the line between reality and fiction, finding a deeper point along the way. Death might seem like the end of the story, but one's legacy continues. Crafted from the lore and identity established and shared when one was alive, legacy is based on an image of someone with no promise that is the deep truth of who they are or what they stood for. Fife is taking this story into his own hands, clearly not content with what will be written about his life and wanting to put his own final statement on the story. While this might seem like a rather clean story of someone untangling a web of lies they have constructed, there are more complexities found at the heart of Oh, Canada which specifically asks the audience how much faith they are willing to put in the words of anyone to be an actual representation of the truth.
Outside of his body of work, the audience doesn't have any objective sources for the story and life of Fife. Similarly, most legacies and social identities are based around words with society choosing to have faith that those stories and those memories are true. In a time when so many use logic to reject religion based on a lack of evidence or proof, calling texts like The Bible just a collection of stories that hold no weight to reality, it feels paradoxical that society then would have faith in the unconfirmed words of others. However, this is even a deeper question within Oh, Canada with Fife being such an unreliable narrator both due to his health and the utter disbelief of his wife. It is impossible to truly know what is happening in the head of Fife, is he perfectly sane and telling the truth? Is Fife's health and memory failing him and he is rambling random thoughts and forgetting the truth? Is Fife purposefully lying to craft a new image of himself before he goes? The film doesn't offer an easy explanation or answer to these questions but instead challenges the audience to engage with its narrative and come to their own conclusions, just like the audience has to every day with the information they are consuming.
This is an even richer challenge considering the amount of misinformation out there in modern times and the current social wars happening revolving around the question of what sources and information should be trusted or not. Again, Schrader has developed a complex and socially relevant pondering that asks impossibly huge questions in a way digestible enough for the audience to wrestle with and engage with. Even if one does not come away with a clean answer, the truth is that it is impossible to fully know the line between reality and fiction, it is still a narrative that is rewarding and worthy. No one is using cinema quite like Schrader with Oh, Canada only furthering to back up this claim.
Not only is Oh, Canada a reunion behind the camera for Schrader by connecting him once again with a Russell Banks novel following Schrader's 1997 adaptation of Banks' 1989 novel Affliction, but the film is also a reunion for Schrader in front of the camera with Richard Gere returning to Schrader's screen following his breakout leading role in 1980's American Gigolo. Gere gives a truly captivating performance of a man seemingly haunted by the identity he has come to live with no concern for the impact his words will have on those around him. It feels like death has freed Fife to do what he wants with no worries about what will happen to him tomorrow considering there is no tomorrow for him. Rising to the challenge is Jacob Elordi who continues to build a strong filmography of dramatic works, showcasing his range between his work here, Emerald Fennell's Saltburn, and Sofia Coppola's Priscilla. Elordi is emotionally intelligent with his performance which often broods and swells with emotion, releasing in controlled bursts that challenge expectations both of him as an actor and Fife as a character.
The editing from Ben Rodriguez Jr. is smooth and successful, balancing different times and perspectives well in tandem with the direction and screenplay from Schrader who is undoubtedly ambitious in his scope and rhythm. Schrader is playful, even swapping Gere and Elordi interchangeably in scenes always with thought and craft. It feels like there are no wasted moments or ideas in Schrader's work, everything has a purpose and is trying to help the audience get sucked deeper into the feature and the rich dialogue within.
Oh, Canada continues Schrader's recent trend of delivering masterpiece after masterpiece as one of cinema's finest and most compelling voices. Both in actual filmmaking ability and in narrative depth, Oh, Canada is a prime example of how talented Schrader is, diving into deep conversations in a way that is far too bold and complex for plenty of modern-day filmmakers to even dream of. In a time where anti-art ideals are becoming more and more common and accepted, voices like Schrader become less and less seen so any new project from him is a real treat.