Simple comme Sylvain

"Sophia" (Magalie Lépine Blondeau) is contentedly married to "Xavier" (Francis-William Rhéaume) - though they sleep in separate rooms, and is quite nervous about meeting the renovator of their newly acquired waterside chalet. Those nerves seem wholly justified when her arrival introduces her to the lively "Sylvain" (Pierre-Yves Cardinal) who tells her that the place is in riddled with carpenter beetles and is in need of tons of expensive modernisation! She's understandably upset and her tears have quite an effect on the man. Soon they are having a beer and, well you can guess the rest... It isn't just an one night stand, though - they can't stop thinking about each other and this doesn't bode well for her marriage. Their friendship, though loving, now throws up some difficulties. She's from a wealthy family and he's a man who works with his hands. Her family - especially her rather obnoxious brother "Olivier" (Guillaume Laurin) rather look down on the man but his mother "Guylaine" (Linda Sorgini) who has a penchant for rather ropey vin rosé and his family do take to her more readily. Can the two manage to make their own affections prevail against an accumulating series of challenges? There's an engaging chemistry between the two as we see their romance build, falter, thrive - is it real love or just an infatuation with both seeking that which they can never have? I'll be honest, the ending rather crept up on me - it wasn't what I wanted and certainly not what I expected, but it's effective nonetheless as auteur Monia Chokri throws down a bit of a gauntlet to impulse, lust and both a psychological and visceral sense of longing. Do we seek love, and would we know it if we found it or does it seek us so it can plays games with us? The story can seem a little contrived at times and it does play to stereotype now and again too, but it's still quite an impassioned watch with two solid efforts at the helm.

There's a lot of good things in Simple comme Sylvain. The chemestry between the two main actors is awesome and the tension is incredible in the first act. Christine Beaulieu is also fantastic in a perfect anticasting. Bonus points for Still Loving You being so well integrated. Sadly the direction and photography just annoyed me too much and make me loose immersion. There's a point in the film where all shots are claustrophobic, use a object to hide parts of the characters, are digitally cropped and loosw resolution or leverages a veil. There's also that annoying fast zoom that just takes me out of it. Sad because other than that it was a great movie.

Wow. I enjoyed every second of the movie. Gorgeous cinematography, amazing acting & chemistry, original, touching, funny, beautiful.

Since I'm originally from Montreal (Quebec), I deeply felt a connection with the way the movie was approached. It felt so familiar to me and every character was someone I know in my daily life. I was so connected to the story and the atmosphere.

The subjects of the movie like social classes and feminine sexuality are also rarely shown in a movie the way it was shown in this. It was not pretentious at all, it was just meant to exist on the big screen. The shots were so original and creative....

I am also shocked to learn that this movie is not the one representing the Canada at the Oscars 2024.....shocking!

The last time I was mindblown with a French Canadian movie was when Mommy by Xavier Dolan came out.

I highly recommend!

Romance in movies can be stale, like bread left overnight. In this current age, there needs to be more appetite for experimentation in the genre. Instead, preferences range from relying on the tried and true to the outright cliché. Fortunately, in The Nature of Love, the film finds a clever way to examine the formula but does more than reshuffle the material. There is an outright examination of love as a messy, kinetic, and deeply passionate event. This romance story plays fast and loose with the comedy, imbuing a sense of drama and even out-of-the-box thinking regarding the cinematography. In addition to being anchored by two leads with simmering chemistry, The Nature of Love is a poignant story going beyond the usual story beats of a girl meets boy into a study on values, love, and life.

Romantic comedies usually aren't my favorite genre but filmmaker Monia Chokri creates a simple, sweet and fun romantic movie with strong performances, interesting camerawork, atmosphere, and style.

Throughout, the narrative is the typical romantic comedy setting with interesting themes of social class, sexuality, exploration and connection but Chokri's direction, writing and approach to the narrative works as it's clear the movie doesn't take itself fully seriously and there are some interesting and creative choices to explore the characters and setting. The characters are interesting to explore while at times some of the developments and dialogue moments between them felt a bit too forced and left to be desired.

The performances are pretty good with each actor giving wonderful chemistry and moments together. All in all, while it's not something grand or amazing, it's a good fun romantic comedy movie with a good energy. French Canadian cinema is oftentimes not discussed much and it deserves to be discussed more.