Les Invasions barbares (DVD)

A French-Canadian film about life, death, and a fair chunk of stuff in between, The Barbarian Invasions is the latest by writer-director Denys Arcand whose previous films include Love and Human Remains, Jesus of Montreal and The Decline of the American Empire, to which this is a kind of loose sequel. Having not seen The Decline ... I don't know how much being familiar with it may enhance enjoyment of The Barbarian Invasions, but seeing as it stands on its own as a superb film, it doesn't really matter. Remy (Remy Girard) is in a chaotic overcrowded Canadian public healthcare hospital having tests. The prognosis doesn't look good, and his ex-wife ...  Read the complete review

Canadian writer/director Denys Arcand has had a long career directing films since the early 60’s – many of them are French language movies, and therefore tend not to be very famous. “Decline of the American Empire” (1986) and “Jesus of Montreal” (1988), are possibly his most well-known. Despite its title, “Les invasions barbares”, or “Barbarian Invasions”, is not an action-hero movie, or a war movie. It was promoted as a comedy, the posters said it was about “sex, friendship, and all the other things that invade our lives.” Not sure about that description. Parts of it are humorous, so it could be described as a comedy, but it has an underlying serious ...  Read the complete review

Plot Outline: When university prof and dedicated skirt-chaser Remy (Remy Girard) is hospitalised, his ex-wife Louise (Dorothee Berryman) asks broker son Sebastien (Stephane Rousseau) to fly home from London. Father and son aren’t pals, but Sebastien does everything he can to make Remy’s last days easier. Including scoring Dad some smack… Review: On one level, “The Barbarian Invasions” sounds like a shameless button-pusher: it’s about an estranged father and son bonding in the face of terminal illness. On another, it suggests something sponsored by the Open University: the title refers to both 9/11 and the erosion of intellectual culture in the West. (Nothing ...  Read the complete review

The Barbarian Invasions is the third film from French-Canadian director Denys Arcand. It is in essence a sequel to his first feature, "The Decline Of The American Empire". "... American Empire" was a highly literate classic from the late eighties concentrating on the lives and loves of a group of Canadian scholars. The film was a critical hit that put Arcand on the map, but that was nothing compared to the reaction to The Barbarian Invasions. The film won 3 Cesar awards in Spain, The Audience award at the Toronto Film Festival, 2 Awards at Cannes (including best screenplay, one of the film's strongest points) ...  Read the complete review