The Nature of Love (International, North America)
Key Cast: Magalie Lépine Blondeau, Pierre-Yves Cardinal
Director: Monia Chokri
Producer: Nancy Grant, Sylvain Corbeil
Screenwriter: Monia Chokri
Cinematographer: André Turpin
Composer: Emile Sornin
Company Credit: Distributor: Kismet
In this Cannes Un Certain Regard comedy, the ineffability of romance is put to the test by an unfaithful married philosopher.
Forty-year-old Sophia is a university lecturer with expertise in the philosophy of love, rattling off lines by Plato, bell hooks and Arthur Schopenhauer whenever she can. But her marriage to a fellow academic, while comfortable, has grown bloodless and dull. Then she meets Sylvain, the hulking, hirsute builder in charge of renovating their lake cabin. Passion overrides all of Sophia’s intellectualism but brings up a host of questions about compatibility, desire and what we ultimately look for in a partner.
Razor-sharp, brimming with insight and humour, and never shy to provoke some laughs, The Nature of Love is the third feature from Canadian actor turned director Monia Chokri (A Brother’s Love, MIFF 2019; An Extraordinary Person, MIFF 2014). Sophia and Sylvain’s irresistible chemistry is brought to life by Magalie Lépine Blondeau and Pierre-Yves Cardinal – who will be familiar to MIFF audiences for their roles in Xavier Dolan’s Laurence Anyways (MIFF 2012) and Tom at the Farm (MIFF 2014), respectively – while Chokri deftly subverts some of the more schmaltzy tropes of the rom-com to craft something far more probing and perceptive.
“As sharp and perceptive as it is funny … A sexy and slightly spiteful examination of romantic passion.” – Screen Daily
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