Richard Gere says he contemplated coming to Canada to avoid being sent to the Vietnam War.
The actor plays a draft dodger in Paul Schrader鈥檚 film 鈥淥h Canada,鈥� and like his character, was a conscientious objector as a young man, he tells a group of journalists at the Cannes Film Festival a day after its premiere.
鈥淚 ended up running,鈥� Gere says Saturday, careful to reveal little about how he dodged authorities.
But instead of fleeing to Canada as his character does, he moved to the U.S. West Coast.
鈥淭he draft board was harassing my parents and the neighbours where I was. So I came back, went through a process and that鈥檚 when they decided I (did not have the) mental stability that they wanted to give me a gun.鈥�
Gere reteams with the director who made him a star in 1980鈥檚 鈥淎merican Gigolo,鈥� this time to play Leonard Fife 鈥� a Montreal-based documentary filmmaker who is celebrated for taking a stand against the Vietnam War by fleeing to Canada, and for turning his camera on atrocities like the development of Agent Orange in New Brunswick and residential school violence.
In the film, Leonard is feted at a Montreal film festival and touted as a winner of Genie and Gemini awards 鈥� precursors to the Canadian Screen Awards which combined the film and television prizes.
A filmmaker contracted by the CBC, played by Michael Imperioli, is making a celebratory profile of Leonard and compares him to Toronto piano virtuoso Glenn Gould.
However, Leonard is terminally ill and hijacks the interview for a deathbed confession, coming clean about his life in front of the camera and his wife, played by Uma Thurman.
The movie, an examination of where the truth lies in documentary filmmaking and memory, is largely set and steeped in Canadiana, but it wasn鈥檛 shot north of the border.
鈥淚t cost too much,鈥� Gere says to a chorus of laughter.
鈥淲e did it right where we all lived so we didn鈥檛 have to pay per diems.鈥�
Based on the Russell Banks novel 鈥淔oregone,鈥� the film jumps back and forth in time following Leonard鈥檚 not exactly reliable memories, which continue to deteriorate as he succumbs to cancer.
Leonard鈥檚 younger self is played by Jacob Elordi, the heartbreaker from 鈥淪altburn鈥� and Sofia Coppola鈥檚 Toronto-shot 鈥淧riscilla.鈥�
Elordi did not attend the Cannes premiere for 鈥淥h, Canada,鈥� because he was actually in Canada to shoot Guillermo del Toro鈥檚 鈥淔rankenstein.鈥� Toronto fans have taken to social media in recent weeks to share sightings of the 鈥淓uphoria鈥� star.
It鈥檚 hinted that the young Leonard may have had less altruistic reasons for opposing the war, his activism revealed as an opportunistic act. When asked about present-day political activism, Schrader suggests it can be similarly muddled by individual opportunism and unrelated grievances.
Schrader takes particular issue with the way criticism against atrocities in Gaza has been conveyed by some protesters: 鈥淪ome of which is antisemitism masking itself as political correctness.鈥�
鈥淭hese people don鈥檛 have, really, skin in the game. They鈥檙e not going to get drafted. (Only) a handful of them are Palestinian,鈥� he says.
鈥淎 lot kids are just doing this cosplay. Cosplay revolutionaries. Let鈥檚 dress up. Let鈥檚 put the kaffiyeh on. Let鈥檚 shout. And then afterwards, let鈥檚 go to McDonald鈥檚.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 not the level of seriousness as it was with Vietnam 鈥� when people actually had skin in the game, when they were getting drafted and they were going (to war) and their friends were dying,鈥� he continues.
Gere says American activism in the 1960s was much different to activism today.
鈥淭he 鈥�60s was an explosion of possibilities and challenging everything. The youth movement of that time was in all the universities. It was in high schools,鈥� he says.
鈥淚t was going in this other direction questioning the status quo support, order of how things are done in the world. And I don鈥檛 think that鈥檚 happened here.鈥�
鈥� Radheyan Simonpillai is a freelance writer based on Toronto
Radheyan Simonpillai, The Canadian Press
