Simple as Sylvain at the Cinema: A Quebecer by Monia Chokri Reinventing the Romantic Comedy

The French discovered it in Xavier Dolan’s Les Amours Imaginaires in 2010. Since then, Quebecer Monia Chokri, still an actress, has also established herself as a director with funny, crazy and insightful films, especially when they break stereotypes and deconstruct the image of a man and a woman, but also a couple. This is the case with Simple comme Sylvain, his third feature film after My Brother’s Wife and the Nanny.

This dramatic comedy, unlike the others, begins as a classic novel. Sofia (Magalie Lépine Blondeau) is a woman established in her personal and professional life. She is brilliant, cultured, beautiful and in a relationship with Xavier (Francis-William Rheum).

The problem: she falls in love with Sylvain (Pierre-Yves Cardinal), a model of manliness. This adulterous relationship becomes a story of its own that crumbles like a house of cards when their two respective worlds collide.

Sylvain, being simple, can be divided into two parts: the first, very romantic, resembles a Douglas Sirk film with its passionate characters and autumn leaves.

You are in a relationship or submissive or under domination.

The second allows Monia Chokri to produce sociological research that challenges our preconceived ideas. “I confronted my own prejudiceshe explained to AlloCiné. Many of us engage in moral lessons, but are we that virtuous?“

It explores, for example, the issue of intellectual disdain, but also the power relationship within the couple. For this, the director – as well as the screenwriter – got inspiration from his own experience. “I had this idea of ​​imbalance in my headhe explains. You are in a relationship or submissive or under domination. Women talk a lot about this imbalance.”

These questions are crystallized through the eyes of Sophia, the heroine she plays Magalie Lépine Blondeau – Excellent in Xavier Dolan’s series, The Night Laurie Gaudreau Woke Up. This choice was obvious to both of them.

“Rarely have I wanted to play a character so badly– says the actor. It reflects the reflections that Monia and I share in our lives. There is something so liberating about it. We are taught to be kind and gentle for pleasure, but Sophia is not subject to this. He is free, detached from the gaze of others. And for these reasons, I like it.”

When the audience meets her, Sophia is the best version of herself. Its intelligence, humor and culture are provided. When she meets Sylvain, her body is desired. “This body is hot, but intelligently compresses it– clarifies the actor. So he tries to find new codes to free himself.”

Sylvain, complex and terribly attractive, plays Pierre-Yves Cardinal, revealed by Xavier Dolan in Tom on the Farm. “It was important to me that Mona Chokri liked her character and she doesHe confides. He has no grudge against her. He is a simple man who did not have much education, but this did not prevent him from achieving success in life. When you touch Sophia, the relationship becomes pheromonal (laughs)..”

Sex scenes add perspective to the story and characters.

With her film, Monia Chokri expresses female sexual desire so rarely that it becomes unprecedented, this is especially the case during the cunnilingus scene, where Sofia’s character, very talkative, controls the situation. “I don’t know why I thought of these scenes like thatadmits the filmmaker. I wanted to write the sex scenes as dialogue scenes. He has the right to say what he likes or not.”

“We talked a lot about these scenes– says Pierre-Yves Cardinal. These aren’t just sex scenes, they add perspective and characters.” The atmosphere on the sets was as crazy as in the movie. The actor talks on the set”With lots of communication, humor, where everyone could contribute somethingVisible energy on the screen.

Commentary collected by Thomas Desroches, Cannes, May 2023.

As simple as Sylvain you have to see in the cinema.