Jacob Elordi Absent as Oh Canada Earns Cannes Standing Ovation

Paul Schrader shed tears as his new film “Oh, Canada” earned a four-minute standing ovation at Cannes Film Festival on Friday night.

Jacob Elordi was notably absent from the premiere, possibly because he is filming Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein,” in which he stars as The Monster. After the ovation finished, Schrader addressed Elordi not being there, saying: “I’m very happy with Richard, Uma, Jake — not here with us –and it all worked out. Im very happy to be back here on the Croisette.”

Elordi, whose star continues to rise after acclaimed turns in “Saltburn” and “Priscilla,” made his Cannes debut last year in Sean Price Williams’ road movie “The Sweet East.”

The drama tells the life story of a troubled writer, Leonard Fife, who at the end of his life reflects on his decision to flee to Canada to avoid the Vietnam War draft. Richard Gere plays the present-day Leonard, while Elordi inhabits the character’s younger self. Rounding out the cast are Uma Thurman, Victoria Hill, Michael Imperioli, Penelope Mitchell and Kristine Froseth.

77-year-old Schrader has previously been on the Croisette for 1976’s “Taxi Driver,” for which he penned the script. The film went on to win the festival’s prestigious Palme d’Or. His 1985 directorial effort “Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters” premiered in competition at Cannes, and he returned again in 1988 for “Patty Hearst.”

In a recent interview with Variety about “Oh, Canada,” Schrader said making the movie caused him to look back on his own life. “My health hasn’t been good,” he said. “I thought if I wanted to make my death film, it had to be now.”

Gere, who previously worked with Schrader on 1980’s “American Gigolo,” has been at Cannes several times over his decades-long career, including for Akira Kurosawa’s “Rhapsody in August,” which is honored on this year’s official poster for the festival.