It starts with a language class.  Journeys of self-discovery often start with small steps.  In the case of Feng Xia (Joan Chen), it begins when her daughter Joy (Pei Yao Xu), about to graduate high school and leave the nest, points out that she won’t be around to translate forever.  Feng Xia has been a mother to Joy and her brother, Dong Dong (Anzhe Zhang), and a housewife to her husband, Jun (John Xu), since they emigrated to Montreal some 14 years ago.  In all that time, dutifully tending to her family and helping in the convenience store Jun owns, she has never done anything strictly for herself.  Until she takes a language class. This is the beginning of Montreal, My Beautiful (Montreal, ma belle). 

This class gives her both the tools and the gumption to seize a little independence.  There are people in the class from all around the world, but Feng Xia becomes interested in Joseph (Zion-Luna Ribeaux Valdès), a young man who moved to the city for love.  Spurred by his confidence to live in public as a gay man, Feng Xia begins to explore a side of herself she has repressed since childhood, and eventually meets Camille (Charlotte Aubin), with whom she begins an affair. 

Montreal, My Beautiful, takes a tender but realistic approach to this new love in Feng Xia’s life.  While she’s exploring this new relationship, she is also maintaining her existing life.  She isn’t happy with Jun, but she’s not sad, either.  Their relationship, on the surface, appears to be for show, but there’s also commitment, even if there isn’t always respect in either direction. She’s drawn to explore this side of herself that has always existed but never dared to show anyone, and to make sure her family stays together.

Jun isn’t given as much depth as one might hope for, but at the same time, he’s not ignored.  Director Xioadan He makes good use of the screentime with him, giving us just enough to understand his frustrations, and while it might be tempting to cast him as the villain in the picture, the script and Xu’s performance build a fully realized character.

However, it’s Chen and Aubin who own the show.  They are both masterful, each as a woman caught in complex emotional situations.  Aubin’s Camille is laissez-faire about relationships at first, but grows to depend on Feng Xia’s quiet but steady presence as they navigate her family issues, and by the time the pair take a trip together later in the film, Aubin has such vulnerability on display that you can practically feel her heartbeat.  Chen, similarly, navigates the internal conflict Feng Xia is experiencing through subtle changes in body language and tone as the film progresses.  Feng Xia reveals different parts of herself as the film goes on, and on that trip with Camille, when she fully shares her history, Chen manages to make it melancholy and affirming all at once. 

Similarly, Feng Xia’s scenes with Joy are each a pleasure too.  Joy is perhaps the person with whom Feng Xia is most honest, and each scene reveals something about their relationship and about Feng Xia herself.  Whether she’s dispelling her daughter’s presumptions, comforting her about her troubles, or simply observing how she lives her life in their adopted city and country, Chen brings so much feeling to each scene, often with as little as a gesture or a furtive glance. 

Director Xiaodan He also has a secret weapon: Montreal itself.  The city is beautiful, and as the story unfolds over a summer, we visit parks, squares, markets, and cafes with Feng Xia, each one picturesque and suited to the scenes she chooses to film.  Similarly, He exhibits trust in the audience, with days between scenes, sometimes she allows scenes to progress with enough context for the audience to put things together, without an earful of exposition.  This is mostly successful, though the audience may sometimes long for more connective tissue.  

Still, this isn’t enough to meaningfully detract from the experience.  Montreal, My Beautiful is a beautiful film, a tender look at a woman gaining some measure of independence after a lifetime of selfless service and a thoughtful look at what is possible when one is able to live a full life, unencumbered by the need to hide.

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Montreal, Ma Belle (Montreal, My Beautiful), in cinemas now.