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

Director:

Denys Arcand

Writer:

Denys Arcand (writer)

Release Date:

24 September 2003 (France)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Romance

Tagline:

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

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Friend | Dying | Cancer | Professor | Liver

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 41 wins & 27 nominations

Cast

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
Micheline Lanctôt	...	Nurse Carole
Denis Bouchard	...	Duhamel
Sylvie Drapeau	...	Second Lover
Jean-Marc Parent	...	Ronald the Syndicalist
Dominic Darceuil	...	Maxime
Yves Desgagnés	...	Olivier
Gilles Pelletier	...	Priest Raymond Leclerc
Jean-René Ouellet	...	Dr. Dubé
Lise Roy	...	Mme. Joncas-Pelletier
Macha Grenon	...	Arielle
Gaston Lepage	...	Security Guard
Daniel Brière	...	Alain Lussier
Sébastien Huberdeau	...	Vincent
Rose-Maïté Erkoreka	...	Student
Roy Dupuis	...	Gilles Levac
David Gow
Sébastien Ricard	...	Jérôme
Janique Kearns	...	Kim Delgado
Sean Lu	...	Pharmacist
Eric Paulhus	...	Réparateur télé
Sofia de Medeiros
Bonnie Mak	...	Nurse
Alain Bruno
Anna-Marie Sutherland	...	Bulgarian Nurse
Jean Antoine Charest
Dawn Lambing
Karen Hader	...	American Nurse
Valérie Jeanneret
Kenneth Fernandez
Julie Tu	...	Chinese Fantasy Woman
Jacques Caron
Shawn McPherson
Nhu Tram Nguyen
Daisy Bhui-Khac
Frédéric Gilles	...	Cowboy
Valérie Wiseman
Stéphane Touzin
Hélène-Manon Poudrette
Yvette Thuot
François Domerc
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Julie Beauchemin
Fanny Mallette	...	(non créditée)
Inés Orsini	...	Lúcia (also archive footage)
Denys Arcand	...	Unionist (uncredited)
Julie Christie	...	Herself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Chris Evert	...	Herself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Françoise Hardy	...	Herself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Karen Kain	...	Herself (archive footage) (uncredited)

Directed by
Denys Arcand

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Denys Arcand		writer

Produced by
Daniel Louis	....	producer
Denise Robert	....	producer
Fabienne Vonier	....	co-producer

Original Music by
Pierre Aviat

Cinematography by
Guy Dufaux

Film Editing by
Isabelle Dedieu

Casting by
Lucie Robitaille

Production Design by
François Séguin

Art Direction by
Caroline Alder
Normand Sarazin

Set Decoration by
Patrice Bengle
Annika Krausz

Costume Design by
Denis Sperdouklis

Makeup Department
Betty Belmore	....	makeup artist
Evelyne Byot	....	key makeup artist
Lizane La Salle	....	assistant makeup artist: extras
Ginette Lajeunesse	....	key hair stylist
Martin Lapointe	....	hair stylist: extras
Christel Piazzolla	....	assistant hair stylist
Diane Simard	....	key makeup artist

Production Management
Hélène Grimard	....	production manager
Stéphane Jacques	....	assistant unit manager
George Jardon	....	post-production supervisor (as Georges Jardon)
Jaime Tobon	....	unit manager
Fabienne Vonier	....	production manager: France

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jacques W. Benoit	....	first assistant director (as Jacques Wilbrod Benoit)
Pierre Bouchard	....	second assistant director
Yanick DiVito	....	additional third assistant director
Simon Dugas	....	third assistant director

Art Department
Alexandre Beauregard	....	carpenter
Renée Belley	....	painter
Jacques Bertrand	....	painter
Daniel Blais	....	painter
François Bouchard	....	scenic technician
Anthony Bourgouin	....	scenic technician (as Anthony Bourgoin)
Michel Bousquet	....	carpenter
Félix Bélanger	....	carpenter
Pascal Bélanger	....	carpenter
Jocelyn Charbonneau	....	scenic technician
Jean-Pierre David	....	scenic technician
Jean Fiset	....	carpenter
François Gagnon	....	carpenter
François Gascon	....	assistant props
Odette Gauvreau	....	painter
France Goulet	....	carpenter
Eric Guindon	....	carpenter
Daniel Huysmans	....	set props
Helene Lamarre	....	art coordinator
Helene Lamarre	....	coordinator (as Hélène Lamarre)
Jacynthe Leclair	....	painter
Olivia Levêque	....	assistant set dresser
Steve Louis	....	graphic designer
Daniel Morin	....	carpenter
Priscilla Morneau	....	prop buyer
Serge Nadon	....	scenic technician
Fabienne Perry	....	carpenter
Luc Potvin	....	carpenter
Gabriel Siry	....	carpenter
Pascal Tremblay	....	scenic technician

Sound Department
Diane Boucher	....	post-synchronization supervisor
Jocelyn Caron	....	adr foley recordist
Michel Descombes	....	sound re-recording mixer
François Domerc	....	boom operator
Alexis Duceppe	....	sound trainee
Jérôme Décarie	....	foley artist
Gavin Fernandes	....	sound re-recording mixer
Nicolas Gagnon	....	assistant foley artist
Marie-Claude Gagné	....	sound designer
Marie-Claude Gagné	....	sound editor
Shaun-Nicholas Gallagher	....	foley recordist (as Shaun Gallagher)
Réjean Juteau	....	sound mixer
Thomas Kodros	....	stereo sound consultant: Dolby
Yves Laferrière	....	additional sound designer
Pierre Laroche	....	assistant sound re-recording mixer
Mireille Morin	....	adr editor
Claire Pochon	....	sound editor
Patrick Rousseau	....	sound
Bruno Ruffolo	....	adr recordist
Jean Philippe Savard	....	sound editor

Special Effects by
Guillaume Murray	....	special effects supervisor

Visual Effects by
Jean-François Bachand	....	digital supervisor
Benoit Brière	....	visual effects supervisor
Sophie Chometton	....	compositor
Sophie Chometton	....	digital compositor
Stéphane Paradis	....	compositor
Joshua Pines	....	technical director (as Josh Pines)
Mario Rachiele	....	visual effects producer
Jennifer Lee	....	digital intermediate editor (uncredited)

Stunts
Stéphane Lefebvre	....	stunt driver

Camera and Electrical Department
Christopher Ball	....	director of photography: additional photography
Diane Boisvert	....	third assistant camera
Michael Boulonne	....	best boy
Ian Brabant	....	grip
Mario Brabant	....	grip
Julien Brisbois	....	electrician
André Bélaieff	....	generator operator
André Caron	....	electrician
François Daignault	....	Steadicam operator
François Daignault	....	camera operator
Jean-Maurice de Ernsted	....	key grip
Attila Dory	....	still photographer
Amelie Duceppe	....	second assistant camera: second unit
Claude Fortier	....	gaffer
Vytaitas Gudlevicius	....	key grip
Martine Guillard	....	electrician
Alain Jolicoeur	....	generator operator
Martin Lebel	....	first assistant camera: second unit
Isabelle Lecompte	....	second assistant camera
Marion Mailhot	....	best boy
Denis Martel	....	electrician
Nathalie Moliavko-Visotzky	....	director of photography: additional photography
Dany Racine	....	first assistant camera: "a" camera

Casting Department
Mike Migliara	....	extras casting
Nicolas Ronchi	....	casting: France
Bruno Rosato	....	extras casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Hélène Bélanger	....	costumer
Louise Dube	....	costumer (as Louise Dubé)
Diane Groulx	....	costume coordinator
Michel L'Heureux	....	costumer
Nicole Langlois	....	seamstress
Richard Lanthier	....	dresser
Francine Richard	....	key costumer
André Valade	....	costumer

Editorial Department
Genevieve Clermont	....	assistant editor (as Geneviève Clermont)
Pascale Dubé	....	post-production assistant
Marie-Neige Forget	....	assistant editor
Francine Gauthier	....	color timer
Melanie Gauthier	....	post-production assistant
Trent Johnson	....	colorist
Elizabeth Ostermann	....	post-production coordinator
Louis-Martin Paradis	....	assistant editor
Marie-Eve Talbot	....	assistant editor

Transportation Department
Mark Barsalou	....	transportation coordinator (as Marco Barsalou)
Pierre Chalifoux	....	driver
Mélanie Dubois	....	driver
Réal Hamel	....	picture car coordinator
Martin Lebrun	....	driver
Cédric Lévesque	....	production driver
Christian Ménard	....	driver

Other crew
Véronique Arcouette	....	production assistant
Doriane Benzakein	....	subtitler
André Boivin	....	production assistant
Claude Brinet	....	legal consultant
Philippe Cadieux	....	production assistant
Brigitte Chabot	....	publicist
Gabbie Corrente	....	publicist
Martine Curly Salvas	....	courier
Alana Cymerman	....	location manager
Julie Cyrenne	....	assistant accountant
André Côté	....	caterer
Manon Delorme	....	consultant
Émmanuelle Dessureault	....	cinémaginaire
Mélanie Dubois	....	production assistant
Danielle Duperreault	....	assistant location manager
Christian Fluet	....	production administrator
Bettina Forget	....	credits
Anik Fortin	....	assistant caterer
Patrick Galipeau	....	production assistant
Robert Gray	....	subtitler
Robert Jacques	....	production assistant
Marie La Haye	....	script supervisor
Eric Lagesse	....	world sales executive
Suzanne Laverdière	....	radio canada executive
Jean-Claude Lemire	....	consultant
Marie-France Long	....	production coordinator
Zénaïde Lussier	....	legal consultant
François Macerola	....	legal consultant
Tara Markus	....	assistant location manager
Guillaume Murray	....	mechanical effects technician
Eric Nobileau	....	consultant
Minou Petrowski	....	publicist
Denis Proulx	....	medic
David Quinton	....	production assistant
Barbara Rivard	....	consultant
Geneviève Rousseau	....	production secretary
Sally Steele	....	publicist
Marie-Pierre Tétreault	....	24 frame video coordinator

Thanks
Viviane Adam	....	thanks
Jean-Marc Bakouch	....	thanks
Pierre Beaudoin	....	thanks
Nadia Belali	....	thanks
Geneviève Benoît	....	thanks
Jacques Bensimon	....	special thanks
Dominique Besnehard	....	thanks
Marc Béland	....	thanks
Anne-Marie Caron	....	thanks: Bombardier Aérospace
Kevin Caron	....	thanks: aéroports de Montréal
Pierre Chagnon	....	thanks
Laurent Champoussin	....	thanks
Martin Desroches	....	thanks
Nathalie Desrosiers	....	thanks
Geneviève Dessureault	....	thanks
François Dompierre	....	thanks
Dominique Dupuis	....	thanks
Chris Evert	....	thanks
Valérie Farthouat	....	thanks
Brigitte Faure	....	thanks
Denise Filiatrault	....	thanks
Jean-Louis Fontaine	....	thanks
Roger Frappier	....	thanks
Guy Gagnon	....	thanks
Françoise Hardy	....	thanks
Pascale Hébert	....	thanks
Karen Kain	....	thanks
Michel Lemay	....	thanks: CLSC du Vieux La Chine
Bénédicte Linard	....	thanks
Suzanne Lévesque	....	thanks
René Malo	....	thanks
André Parisé	....	thanks: CLSC du Vieux La Chine
Nicolas Ronchi	....	thanks
Patrick Roy	....	thanks
Robert Roy	....	thanks
Michel Trudel	....	thanks
Réjean Villeneuve	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Pyramide Productions (co-production)
• Cinémaginaire Inc. (co-production)
• Astral Films
• Canal+
• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC)
• Harold Greenberg Fund, The
• Production Barbares Inc.
• Société Radio-Canada
• Société de Développement des Entreprises Culturelles (SODEC)
• Téléfilm Canada

Distributors

• Pyramide Distribution (2003) (France) (theatrical)
• Vivafilm (2003) (Canada) (theatrical) (Quebec)
• Artificial Eye (2004) (UK) (theatrical)
• BIM Distribuzione (2003) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Comstock (2004) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Distribution Company (2004) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• EDKO Film (2004) (Hong Kong) (theatrical)
• Filmcooperative (2003) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Films de l'Elysée, Les (2003) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• Hopscotch Films (2004) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Miramax Films (2003) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Playtime S.A. (2003) (Greece) (theatrical)
• Prokino Filmverleih (2003) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Argentina Video Home (2004) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Argentina Video Home (2004) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Audio Visual Enterprises (2004) (Greece) (video)
• Europa Filmes (2004) (Brazil) (video)
• Gateno Films (2004) (Peru) (all media)
• Impuls Home Entertainment (2004) (Switzerland) (DVD)
• Paradiso Home Entertainment (2004) (Netherlands)
• Universal Pictures (2004) (Germany) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Big Bang/FX Animation (mechanical and visual effects)

Other Companies

• Ace Drive  thanks
• Air Canada  thanks
• Appalaches Entrepreneurs en Architecture du Paysage  thanks
• Bluenose II Preservation Trust  thanks
• Canal+ Image UK  archive
• Ciello sulla Palude  archive
• Communications Rivage  archive
• Corporation d'Urgences Santé  thanks
• Inter-Tel  thanks
• Kodak Canada  film stock
• Les Productions Charade  archive
• Location Michel Trudel Inc.  electric equipment
• Louis René Lamarche Opticien  thanks
• Modulations  sound
• Montreal Casting House  extras casting
• Montreal Casting  extras casting
• National Film Board of Canada (NFB)  special thanks
• Rudsak Collection  thanks
• Salon de Fourrure Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson  thanks
• Sherpa Games et Beenox  thanks
• Société Radio-Canada  archive
• Sony Pictures Releasing Canada  thanks (as Sony du Canada Ltée)
• Splice Postproduction  picture editorial services
• Stock Video Rélévision Suisse Romande  archive
• Swiss International Air Lines  thanks
• Taillefer Desjardins  insurance company
• Torstar Media Group Television  archive
• Ubisoft Divertissements  thanks
• Video Assist Inc.  video assist
• Vision Globale  video transfer

Also Known As:

"Les invasions barbares" - Canada (original title)
"Invasion of the Barbarians" - International (English title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language, sexual dialogue and drug content

Runtime:

99 min | Canada:112 min (DVD version)

Country:

Canada | France

Language:

French | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | Dolby SR

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Australia:MA | Brazil:18 | Canada:13+ (Québec) | Canada:14A | Denmark:7 | Finland:K-11 | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Italy:T | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/16 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:18 | USA:R | Spain:13 | Iceland:12 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Zurich) | France:U | Malaysia:18PL

Filming Locations:

Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Company:

Pyramide Productions

Trivia:

Director Cameo: [Denys Arcand]the union representative whose jacket says "Directeur."

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: After Rémy and everyone else watch the final video message of Sylvaine on Sébastien's laptop, a man's left hand removes the laptop plug on the viewer's left side as Sébastien takes the laptop away. All the characters present at the chalet, at the time, are accounted for in the shot; save Nathalie who is inside preparing the heroin.

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...

Movie Connections:

References Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

Soundtrack:

String Quartet in Major

Politics Aside

I have never been a fan of Canadian cinema because it was generally soaked with the sort of contrived politically correct sexual and social attitudes of which the conformist majority was already a proponent. Thus, Canadian films tended to be "pop-Canadian-culture" films about political correctness.

Of course there were exceptions: Atom Egoyan's "Exotica" or "The Sweet Hereafter," or some of Cronenberg's more experimental films like "Naked Lunch" possessed some of that existential starkness that attracted me to those films. Nonetheless my expectations generally remained low, which is why Denys Arcand's great "Barbarian Invasions" was such a pleasant surprise.

The film is about three things: the disillusionment with socialism, the growing disillusionment with capitalism, and the death of a man who happened to have been a socialist professor in Montreal, while his son a millionaire.

Remy is dying of cancer. He is dying in a Montreal hospital, which in a five minute scene is established as the horror of socialist Canadian health care. Remy's ex-wife calls upon his estranged, well-off son, Sebastien to come visit and take care of his dying father. What follows is both a comic and a touching critique of the achievements of socialism. The film also suggests that the increasingly nihilist capitalism, or money, seems to be the only way to get around in this world. Money gets Remy out of an overcrowded ward, it gets him the most accurate medical tests and the "painkillers" he needs to survive.

But "Barbarian Invasions" is critical of both systems: there is a beautiful scene where an auctioneer visits an old Montreal priest who takes her to the basement where he apparently has statuettes and chalices he wants to sell. The girl examines them and tells him that they would be of more value to the people at the church than on the world market. The priest remarks starkly: "In other words, they are worthless." Capitalism, consequently, is as anti-spiritual as socialism was.

However, there are far more levels to "Barbarian Invasions" than mere politics. In fact, the film's goal is really to scream "Politics Aside!" so that we can make room for the man who is dying. Because Remy is not a quiet, subdued man. He is a lusty man a la Sabbath from Roth's "Sabbath's Theater" who loves life, women, wine and radical socialism. But now, that all those things are distant from him, he is forced to question his life, his relationships with his friends and his estranged children.

What follows is a profound and touching elegy to the stupidities of youth, the mistakes in life, the regret and acceptance of old age - in other words of humanity. In the end, though Remy may be disillusioned with socialism, and definitely not all-too-happy with capitalism, facing death somehow robs politics of their significance. Not to say that politics aren't significant in life, because they pervade everything we do and see and so on, but bare, unadulterated life shines through for Remy. In the end, "Barbarian Invasions" is about death, and dying with dignity and how that dignity is achieved. While neither capitalism nor socialism offer it, it can be found at a more basic, human level.

It's ironic, as a side-note, that this film came out roughly at the same time as Bertolucci's "The Dreamers," which is essentially a contemplation on the idealism and romanticism of French socialism and the "free love" culture of the 60s. I found Bertolucci's film much less profound than his greater ones - it used an affair between two siblings and an American closed off in an apartment for several days as a metaphor for the sixties. It ended rather tragically, but unrealistically - it tried to convince us that people got out from their cloistered "apartments" (read mentalities) and went to the streets to protest. What "Barbarian Invasions" tells us is that the protesters on the street were still really in that apartment, cloistered from reality.