Written and directed by Monia Chokri
The muddy waters of love and lust, the difference between companion- and partnership, and the self’s place in all of it gets a caring going-over in Monia Chokri’s Simple comme Sylvain, the story of a woman’s whirlwind affair and the fallout it causes in her neat, well-arranged existence.
Sophia (Magalie Lépine Blondeau) is a well-read, sophisticated, kind, and orderly person. She teaches the theory of love, from Plato to Bell Hooks, to seniors, and her long-time partner Xavier (Francis-William Rhéaume) is of the same academic cloth. They can both hold forth on literary theory, name-drop ancient philosophers, dissect political news, and still throw in some self-reflective humor to show that their ivory tower is only a few stories high.
What compatibility! What peaceful amiability they exhibit as they recommend books to each other and banter in the car, offering give-and-take analysis of topics big and small. Every contented day ends with them sharing a cute inside joke that sends them off to dreamland with a shared smile. Yet, they snuggle under the covers not only in separate beds, but in entirely separate bedrooms. They pleasure each other between the ears, not the legs.
A cottage renovation project sees Sophia meet with Sylvain, their contractor. A country boy, he strikes a jarring contrast to Xavier. Sylvain hunts wild animals; Xavier reads while sitting cross-legged; Sylvain cites Quebecois rock-pop ballads; Xavier references Rosseau. Opposite Rhéaume, Pierre-Yves Cardinal as eponymous Sylvain is a terrific redneck Romeo. The extracurriculars aren’t what sets them apart for Sophia, however, it’s the feelings they evoke, with Sylvain the red-blooded lover and partner any woman can find herself swept off her feet by.
But can passion spackle over completely opposite personalities?
The dichotomies flow thick and fast in Simple comme Sylvain, covering everything from country vs. city, elite vs. working class, intellectualism vs. sensuality, and so on, but Chokri’s script doesn’t want to get too deep into the shaggy carpet of philosophy, staying light with recognizable stereotypes and taking opportunities to make fun of both camps’ preconceptions.
It’s for the best! Simple comme Sylvain rides along with gusto, offering plenty of laughs as both Sophia and Sylvain dudder along as they try to assimilate into each other’s world, with dueling dialogue and fast-cut editing to emphasize the clash of cultures. People talk up a storm in this movie in a variety of ways, whether it’s blowhard rants about the artistry of Damien Hirst, pleading breakdowns, or snide dinner talk.
Chokri, thankfully, knows when talk’s no longer wanted, and the building tension and eruption of Sophia’s affair is hot stuff. Chokri can direct lust as well as she can direct for laughs, and the chemistry of Blondeau and Cardinal will steam up any room you watch this movie in.
Chokri’s ambitions extend to probe the harder truths of partnerships, using Sophia’s parents-in-law as a case study in how a partner’s old age can ask for a show of true devotion. There are not many scenes where the ugly realities are put front and centre, but when they arrive, stuck in between comic scenes of Sophia falling headlong into her affair, they hit like sledgehammers. It’s not enough to make Simple comme Sylvain a dramatic masterpiece, but it’s a showcase for Chokri’s versatility. She can put the heat in your loins as well as tears in your eyes.
There are no surprises to Simple comme Sylvain, and halfway through, you already know where Sophia and Sylvain are headed. You don’t mind, though, when the trip there is so packed with witty comedy, titillating tension and romance, and all of it delivered with perfect pitch. A sharp depiction of modern love, its pitfalls, and the messy reality of romance versus the imagined ideal.
Mikkel Frederiksen 