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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.

Oh, Canada is written and directed by Paul Schrader. Based on the novel Foregone by Russell Banks.

Oh, Canada opens in NY December 6 & in LA December 13.
Transcript
00:00Don't forget why I agreed to do this.
00:04Tell me why I agreed to do this.
00:07This documentary will record your progress from your arrival in Canada as a draft refugee
00:12through your career as a filmmaker.
00:14Where's my wife?
00:15I'm here, Leo.
00:16I want to tell her everything, for the record.
00:21I know most of the stuff anyway.
00:22I don't know any of it.
00:25Okay, let's begin.
00:28Lights, please.
00:30Leonard 5, December 22, 2023.
00:35The story begins the night of March 30th, 1968.
00:40Richmond, Virginia.
00:43I can hear him.
00:45You're her.
00:46She'll be a girl.
00:49Ben tells me you're going north tomorrow.
00:53I was on my way to decide my future.
00:56I never returned to Virginia.
00:58I met Amy in a bar in St. Petersburg.
01:01Then I met Amanda by the time I was 22.
01:08I'd already been married, fathered a child, gotten divorced.
01:15My head ruined my life.
01:18I'm waiting for everything to just kind of fall into place.
01:27He's mixing things together.
01:29Memories, films, fantasies, other people's stories.
01:32You're talking about me like I'm not in the room.
01:34I can hear you.
01:35Come on, let's just keep going.
01:37Can we do that?
01:38You're confused.
01:39Stay away from me.
01:43You were a hero.
01:45You stood against war.
01:48Stop.
01:49That's enough.
01:50Stop this now.
01:54When you have no future,
01:59all you have left is your past.

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