|
The Barbarian Invasions review
:. Director: Denys Arcand
:. Starring: Rémy Girard, Stéphane Rousseau
:. Running Time: 1:52
:. Year: 2003
:. Country: Canada / France
|
Sixteen years after the release of The Decline of the American Empire, the first Québecois film to attract an international audience, Denys Arcand revives his characters in The Barbarian Invasions, a humorous, cynical and heart-warming drama that mocks the shadow of death.
Rémy, an old libertarian and libertine academic, is in the last throws of his life and living out his last days in a hospital in Montreal surrounded by those who had loved him once upon a time: his ex-wife, his son Sébastien, his erudite friends and his most-loyal mistresses. He wants to make his peace with everyone and with the world. What happened to them all at the time of the "barbarian invasions", of which the most traumatic will be remembered by the three figures 9/11 for a long time?
The Barbarian Invasions is a reflection of the modern-day West ruled by the undisputed rulers of the world: the Americans. With a deliberate irreverent cynicism, Arcand delights in laying into this empire. Symptomatic: despite the chance of treatment using cutting-edge equipment, Rémy categorically refuses to make the trip to his neighboring country. Only concession: to go there with his son to for a scan. On their arrival, their impertinence takes the form of two remarks addressed to the nurse who comes to welcome them: "Bless the Lord" and "Alleluia".
From the start of the film, the dialogue is awash with light-hearted, yet emotional expressions. When the protagonists aren't spouting knowledgeable theories backed up with quotes and literary or historical references (in no particular order, Dante, Montaigne, Cioran, Primo Lévi, Soljenitsyne, etc.), they are uttering abundant and direct proverbs that have the audience in stitches. The audience feels they have been accepted into a circle of happy epicureans. Just one of many witticisms is this maxim about their trip to the United States: "Christmas having a scan, Easter in the cemetery." Simple and effective.
Through discussions and debates, the characters provoke the audience to think about the relationship between contemporary events and past facts and ideologies. During a conversation with a nurse, Rémy compares the number of victims that fell under American and conquistador fire in the 16th century to those wounded in the 20th century. One has to admire the effectiveness of modern means of destruction "200 million deaths. All these deaths without even using bombs!" However, the director does not only target the rulers of the world. In a scene where the extras draw up a list of all the movements ending in "ism" through which they have all lived (structuralism, nihilism, Marxism, etc.), cretinism included, they have a dig at the Berlusconi government.
Religion, and administration in general, with its Kafkaesque procedures, also come under attack. With a perfectly refined humor, our troublemakers seem to take exquisite pleasure as they vent their spleen on intellectuals such as Sollers or mock politicians such as French president Félix Faure, who, as rumor would have it, passed away as his mistress offered him a "little treat": "he dreamed of being Cesar, but only lived up to Pompey. His mistress was nicknamed the undertaker." I could add some more humorous quips to the list, but I don't want to spoil the surprise!
The film's humor and rare intelligence are not its only good points. The central and serious plot covers the last days of a man about to die. However, Arcand manages to avoid the pitfall of pathos. The energy with which Rémy's son shakes up the system to ease the ordeal that awaits his father brings the audience some truly comic moments. Brilliantly acted with carefully chosen dialog, the film is melancholic and nostalgic, contemplative, humble and discreet, and full of animated conversation. The film is not aggressive, the intention is clear but not overdone and Arcand leaves room for tenderness.
Moland Fengkov
Translated into English by Nicole Berry
 Movie Reviews: 1998 - 2011
Movie Reviews: 2012 - present
|
|
