More from the Young People Fucking interviews

Martin Gero is quite a character. He had me laughing through much of my interview with him for last week’s feature on Young People Fucking.

As funny he was, he was also had a lot of insight about YPF's title, and was clear-eyed about its impact. “The title hurts us a little and helps us a lot. No matter what, you go into this movie with a preconceived idea of what the film is going to be, whether positive or negative.”

But he was also very aware of the function of a title when it comes to marketing. “The title had to carry a large burden,” he pointed out. “The title has to go out there and work for the film, it has to sell the film.” Considering that Canadian films have minimal marketing budgets, this aspect is accentuated even more.

But of course, when you attract a lot of attention, you better be sure you have material to match.

Gero said he wanted to make the kind of film that he felt was not out there yet. “This film kinda exists in between the cuts of most film. The sex scenes are like ”˜oh I love you’ and then it’s the next morning and it’s like ”˜that was amazing’ and well sure we’ve all had those nights but there’s a lot of complicated stuff that happens in between.”

He said he and cowriter Aaron Abrams (who also stars in the film) drew upon their own lives and observations. “Aaron and I made it really specific to our lives and our experiences and it was really eye opening for us to see that it really resonated with a lot of people”¦The really fun thing about watching it with an audience is”¦ the weird second part is there’s this weird palpable release of tension in the audience where they’re like ”˜oh god, okay, everyone goes through these conversations.’ We never imagined that the film would be super cathartic for people.”

Abrams also felt that they were drawing upon the kinds of things guys don’t talk about enough. “When I hear dudes talk about sex”¦what they don’t do is talk about when something goes wrong, and the insecure stuff. And that’s the stuff I’m interested in seeing and is the funniest to watch.”

But it wasn’t just from a male point of view. Director and actress Sarah Polley (Away From Her) was the first girl that read the script, Gero said, and gave lots of “lady notes”.

Actress Kristin Booth, who plays a wife who isn’t getting enough sexual affection from her husband, also said that she felt it was well balanced in its portrayal of guys and gals. “One thing that is extremely evident from reading the script and then I think translates to when you watch the film is that it’s very evident that the people who wrote the film and made the film love women. It’s two men who wrote but it’s not in any way misogynistic, it’s not in any way exploitive of women. You can tell that the two guys who wrote the script really have a great appreciation for the opposite sex, and how fabulously complicated they are.”

Our editor Charlie Smith participated in a panel about the Bill C-10 controversy that has used the film as an example of the type of film that shouldn't receive Canadian tax credits.

Instead of letting right wing activists telling you what and what not to see, I suggest you make up your mind about the film, and see it for yourself.

What could be more Canadian than that?