Why wont they switch it up and tackle something new?
Why would I want them to explore something outside of this?
That seems like a surefire path to inauthenticity.
Images via Foregone Films
Its why his narratives typically end either bloody or with the protagonist jailed.
Schrader makes a strong case on behalf of Protestant guilt with a nearly 50-year career probing its destructive effects.
He returns once again to this well, in perhaps his most personal story yet, withOh, Canada.
Image via Foregone Films
Gere is not a movie star we often see anymore, and hes a welcome sight whenever he appears.
His leading role as Leo Fife inOh, Canadais a warts-and-all performance that could translate to awards buzz.
Hes demandingdespite it not being his own film set, he has no qualms running it like it is.
Image via Foregone Films
Gere even resembles Schrader, with the unshaven white stubble and respiratory issues.
It felt like Schrader was building something visually with DPAlexander Dynan, who shot his last four films digitally.
Still,Oh, Canadas visuals are serviceable.
Image via Kino Lorber
Schraders subversion of his trademark bleakness recently indicates a possible softening, beginning withFirst Reformed.
The question of that film was Will God forgive us?
for destroying his creation.
And Schrader has answered optimistically in interviews that he believes the answer is yes.
Instead, Roth chooses an idyllic life with Maya over self-destruction.
Again, a Schrader protagonist cant help but choose love.
No bloodshed needs to spill in addition.
A natural, undignified, wheezing death will suffice.
This allows Fife to confess directly to her.
We just dont possess enough reference for the actual truth and how it mightve gotten twisted over the years.
Emmas first instinct is that Fife is senile and conflating someone elses story.
This is an interesting angle the film tries to explore but never fully commits to.
Fife seems of sound mind and the flashbacks we get with Elordi seem to confirm Fifes accounting.
But this version is too straightforward for the senile misremembering narrative to be taken seriously.
Here is a dignified person grappling with the inherent indignity of dying.
But he finds his voice and control by telling his story straight.
And now shes producing for Malcolm when she should be directing her own work.
Later, in an actual senile moment, he openly calls Malcolm a fraud.
These moments make us long for a film that rarely, if ever leaves this enclosed documentary set.
Fife is mostly a selfish womanizer who has no qualms about moving on when the moment benefits him.
And so,the heightened outrage that follows Fifes confessions feels insincere.
Oh, Canadais now playing in theaters.
Interactions with estranged family members and the community around him bring to light the enduring consequences of his actions.
