Fri Feb 28 10:50:00 UTC 2025: ## Veteran Director Paul Schrader’s “Oh, Canada” Explores Memory and Mortality

**Grand Rapids, MI** – Paul Schrader, the acclaimed director behind films like *First Reformed* and *The Card Counter*, returns with his latest offering, *Oh, Canada*. This introspective drama, now streaming on various VOD platforms, stars Richard Gere as Leonard Fife, a dying documentary filmmaker confronting his life’s choices through a series of revealing interviews.

The film follows Fife as he recounts his life story, weaving together present-day confessions with fragmented flashbacks portrayed by Jacob Elordi. Facing terminal illness, Fife uses the documentary as a platform to untangle the web of truths and lies he’s woven throughout his career, including embellishments about his past activism and time spent in Cuba. His wife, Emma (Uma Thurman), struggles with his revelations, questioning the reliability of his memories clouded by illness and medication.

Director Schrader employs a non-linear narrative, mirroring the unreliable nature of memory. The film jumps between timelines, showing Fife’s younger self making significant life decisions and experiencing both triumphs and regrets. The film also features a notable nude scene.

While the film’s non-linear structure might initially confuse some viewers, it ultimately serves as a powerful metaphor for the fragmented nature of memory itself, reflecting the film’s central theme of grappling with one’s past. While not as dramatically powerful as some of Schrader’s previous works, *Oh, Canada* offers a compelling and thought-provoking exploration of mortality and the search for truth.

Critic John Serba concludes that while not a powerhouse, *Oh, Canada* offers complex and lingering ideas, deeming it worth a stream.

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