Decline can be beautiful, or it can be horrifying. Edward Gibbon's notion was that the Roman Empire was an organic thing and like any other it is born, grows to maturity, declines, and dies. Arcand -- like Remy -- seems to have a historian's eye when viewing the journey of life.
I saw this right after watching Decline of the American Empire and find it impossible to separate the two. The characters in the former are sparkplugs, intellectual sponges, heirs of Dionysus. Here, they are seasoned, sound creatures who have achieved peace with age -- except for Remy.
Like a true historian, Remy cannot die in peace until he passes his knowledge he's accumulated on to his heir. This is the foundation of civilization: the continual accretion of achievement, the building of a collective consciousness. Remy's life would have been a waste had he died and severed his link to posterity. And his son would have lived an emptier life without lessons learned from his father. When they reconcile, the torch is passed peacefully, almost religiously.
This really is a beautiful, touching quilt of characters weaved over, under, around one another. It's rich with narrative color, and the chemistry between the actors is palpable. Most significantly, it captures the beauty and enormity of life, which is a rare thing for a film.
I saw this right after watching Decline of the American Empire and find it impossible to separate the two. The characters in the former are sparkplugs, intellectual sponges, heirs of Dionysus. Here, they are seasoned, sound creatures who have achieved peace with age -- except for Remy.
Like a true historian, Remy cannot die in peace until he passes his knowledge he's accumulated on to his heir. This is the foundation of civilization: the continual accretion of achievement, the building of a collective consciousness. Remy's life would have been a waste had he died and severed his link to posterity. And his son would have lived an emptier life without lessons learned from his father. When they reconcile, the torch is passed peacefully, almost religiously.
This really is a beautiful, touching quilt of characters weaved over, under, around one another. It's rich with narrative color, and the chemistry between the actors is palpable. Most significantly, it captures the beauty and enormity of life, which is a rare thing for a film.