The Barbarian Invasions (2003)
"Les invasions barbares" (original title)

During his final days, a dying man is reunited with old friends, former lovers, his ex-wife, and his estranged son.

Director:

Denys Arcand

Writer:

Denys Arcand

Stars:

Rémy Girard, Stéphane Rousseau, Marie-Josée Croze

Won 1 Oscar. Another 41 wins & 27 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rémy Girard	...	Rémy
Stéphane Rousseau	...	Sébastien
Marie-Josée Croze	...	Nathalie
Marina Hands	...	Gaëlle
Dorothée Berryman	...	Louise
Johanne-Marie Tremblay	...	Sister Constance Lazure (as Johanne Marie Tremblay)
Pierre Curzi	...	Pierre Citrouillard
Yves Jacques	...	Claude
Louise Portal	...	Diane Leonard
Dominique Michel	...	Dominique St. Arnaud
Isabelle Blais	...	Sylvaine
Toni Cecchinato	...	Alessandro
Sophie Lorain	...	First Lover
Mitsou	...	Ghislaine (as Mitsou Gélinas)
Markita Boies	...	Nurse Suzanne

Storyline

In this belated sequel to 'The Decline of the American Empire', 50-something Montreal college professor, Remy, learns that he is dying of liver cancer. He decides to make amends meet to his friends and family before he dies. He first tries to made peace with his ex-wife Louise, who asks their estranged son Sebastian, a successful businessman living in London, to come home. Sebastian makes the impossible happen, using his contacts and disrupting the entire Canadian system in every way possible to help his father fight his terminal illness to the bitter end, while he also tries to reunite his former friends, Pierre, Alain, Dominique, Diane, and Claude to see their old friend before he passes on.

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Plot Keywords:

friend | dying | cancer | professor | liver | 

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Taglines:

A provocative new comedy about sex, friendship, and all other things that invade our lives.

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, sexual dialogue and drug content

Details

Official Sites:

Alliance Atlantis Vivafilm Bim Distribuzione [it]

Country:

Canada France

Language:

French English

Release Date:

24 September 2003 (France)

Also Known As:

The Barbarian Invasions

Filming Locations:

Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Box Office

Budget:

CAD 6,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$9,499 (Hong Kong) (18 June 2004)

Gross:

$9,499 (Hong Kong) (18 June 2004)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Pyramide Productions, Cinémaginaire Inc., Astral Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min 112 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Denys Arcand:  the union representative whose jacket says "Directeur."

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Goofs

Remy was supposed to be taken to a hospital in Burlington, Vermont in a van in the company of his son, Sebastian. However, when the van arrives at the US border, the two huge highway signs clearly say Interstate 91 and US Route 5-Derby Line, indicating that it is actually the Stanstead-Derby Line border crossing. Normally, people do not take that route to get from Montreal to Burlington, which is located right on I-89, but would go via Philipsburg, QC and take Interstate 89 instead.

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Quotes

Rémy: [in French] Contrary to belief, the 20th century wasn't that bloody. It's agreed that wars caused 100 million deaths. Add 10 million for the Russian gulags. The Chinese camps, we'll never know, but say 20 million. So 130, 145 million dead. Not all that impressive. In the 16th century, the Spanish and Portuguese managed, without gas chambers or bombs, to slaughter 150 million Indians in Latin America. With axes! That's a lot of work, sister. Even if they had church support, it was an achievement....

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Connections

Referenced in Les Boys: La potion magique (2010)

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Soundtracks

"Sonate R. 381"
Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (as Mozart)
Performed by Marlene Finn and Pierre-Richard Aubin

User Reviews

Key Themes are Not 'Anti-capitalism, Anti-Americanism'

There seems to be a lot of passion over the claim that the film is anti-American, anti-capitalist, etc. Many criticisms seem to dismiss the humanistic elements in this film - pain, death, reconciliation - because it has a vague intellectual, leftist, socialist face. My experiences in Canada tend to suggest that the Canadians have plenty of targets down south that deserve criticism. But does it matter? Whether the film included all these elements, the key theme was the preparation for death and reconciliation between those who will not see each other again.

Doesn't anybody cry over loss? Are we scared of those things after death? or do we fear the process of dying - the loss of the person, their presence? A person died in this film - right before us - 100 minutes of decline -and what a sigh of relief that there was reconciliation in the end! That there was time to speak, time to be present. Consider the contrast between the daughter on the yacht - stranded, distant - and the son near his father. The great pain that welled up in me to see that there was no opportunity for her left.

I don't cry in films, but I did here. I feared dying more than ever - other people's deaths, and mine - and I resolved to prepare for it.