OH, CANADA Trailer: Richard Gere Confesses His Life in Paul Schrader’s Mournful Drama

Nearly 45 years after working together on American Gigolo, director Paul Schrader and star Richard Gere are back for a more poignant drama about looking back at life while reaching the end of it. Oh, Canada stars Gere as Leonard Fife, a famed documentary filmmaker who fled to Canada as a draft dodger during the Vietnam War. As he is near death from cancer, Fife gives a final interview to one of his former students (Michael Imperioli) to de-mythologize his mythologized life. Uma Thurman also stars as Fife’s supportive wife/former student, with Jacob Elordi appearing as a younger Fife in flashbacks. Schrader adapted the film from the novel “Forgone” by Russell Banks, whose other novel “Affliction” was also adapted by Schrader in 1998. Following its premieres at Cannes, TIFF, and NYFF, Kino Lorber has released the official trailer ahead of its December 6 theatrical release.

Here’s the official synopsis:

Aging filmmaker Leonard Fife (Richard Gere), still fiery despite his battle with illness, wants to tell his life story, unfiltered, before it’s too late. As the director of acclaimed documentary exposés, he has much to be proud of, but his Vietnam War draft-dodging and his past relationships harbor thorny truths. Leonard sits for an extended interview with his former student Malcolm (Michael Imperioli), relating candid stories about his younger self (Jacob Elordi) in the tumultuous 1960s and beyond. At Leonard’s insistence, his wife and indispensable artistic partner, Emma (Uma Thurman), bears witness to it all. His successes are held up against his failings and, as the man is cleansed of the myth, Leonard must confront what is left. Paul Schrader’s adaptation of Russell Banks’s novel sees him reunited with Gere more than 40 years after American Gigolo, and together they deliver a moving and deeply personal take on this story of an artist reflecting on a lifetime of storytelling.

Check out the trailer and poster below for Oh, Canada.

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