the story of a passion in hostile environments

Is love between two people from different social backgrounds possible? This is the question asked in this third feature film by Canadian Monia Chokri, placed under the sign of humor and tenderness. Simple like Sylvain, was presented at the last Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section. It hits theaters on November 8.

Together for ten years, Sophia, a philosophy professor (Magalie Lépine Blondeau) and Xavier, her companion (Francis-William Rhéaume) form a complicit but passionless couple. The chalet they just bought in the Laurentians needs work. One weekend, while Xavier has to go to a seminar in Ottawa, Sophia goes alone to their new house for a meeting with Sylvain, the carpenter (Pierre-Yves Cardinal). It was love at first sight between them.

Sophia is urban, intellectual, delicate and hypersensitive, from a bourgeois background. Sylvain is a country man, fisherman and hunter, from a modest background, handsome and rough around the edges. This does not prevent them from loving each other with passion, because Sylvain is also a romantic, the “intellectual” of his family as his brother Kévin, more rustic, says, and he is seduced by Sophia’s intelligence. For her part, Sophia feels alive again in the arms of her lover, happily enjoying the moments she shares with him in the wild nature of the Laurentians. Their relationship grows and they decide to introduce each other to their families and friends.

Not that easy

Simple like Sylvain? Not so sure. Is love between two beings who are socially opposed to each other viable? This is the whole question raised by this third feature film by the Canadian director, which treats this subject with a good dose of humor and second degree. Monia Chokri enjoys sketching two opposing worlds, through the dialogues, the costumes, the sets. Everyone gets what they deserve: Sophia’s precious little intellectual environment, often ridiculous, as much as Sylvain’s entourage, a fan of Sardou, whose harshness often borders on vulgarity.

Beyond this antagonism, the director questions the very notion of love. A question that she stages from a theoretical and philosophical point of view, from Plato to bell hooks, via Jankelevitch or Hannah Arendt, in the courses taught by Sophia at the university of the third age, as a counterpoint of the story of the adventure experienced by the two protagonists.

Other forms of love are also evoked through other couples in Sophia’s entourage: Xavier’s old parents, whose father is losing his mind, the loves of Sophia’s brother, more conceptual, or even those of her friend Françoise (Monia Chokri), always curious to experience new adventures… Questions of sexuality are approached without taboo, with a humor that allows for all daring. The sex scenes are filmed with sensuality and interiority, from Sophia’s point of view. A female point of view that we don’t let go of for the duration of the film.

“A larger thought”

A trademark of Quebec cinema, the delicious dialogues constitute the backbone of the film. Here we talk a lot, preferably all at the same time, which gives rise to numerous scenes of joyful cacophony, and illustrates the obvious lack of listening between everyone. Implicitly, the director questions the question of language, and language, at the center of the divide between the two worlds. “I want to help him find the words so that he can think more broadly”justifies Sophia, who constantly criticizes Sylvain for his lexical errors.

Built in the form of a loop, the film resembles a game where all the pieces have been moved without leaving the board. The very careful staging places the viewer in the position of observer, with tight shots, numerous zooms or very rapid reframing, as if the camera was trying to capture scenes of life like in a documentary.

Despite all these assets, and the impeccable performance of the actors, the story ends up going in circles a little, like a passion with no outlet, which dies after having devoured the lovers. Nevertheless, after My brother’s wifeFavorite at the Cannes Film Festival, Un Certain Regard in 2019, and Baby sitter in 2022, Monia Chokri’s new film questions us in depth about love, femininity, virility and desire, against a backdrop of social chronicle, while joyfully entertaining us.

The sheet

Gender Comedy, Romance
Director: Monia Chokri
Actors: Magalie Lépine Blondeau, Pierre-Yves Cardinal, Francis-William Rhéaume
Country : Canada
Duration : 1h 50min
Exit : November 8, 2023
Distributer : Memento Distribution
Synopsis : Sophia is a philosophy professor in Montreal and has lived as a couple with Xavier for 10 years. Sylvain is a carpenter in the Laurentians and must renovate their country house. When Sophia meets Sylvain for the first time, it’s love at first sight. Opposites attract, but can it last?