The Barbarian Invasions (2003)

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, Dorothée Berryman, Stéphane Rousseau

Won 1 Oscar. Another 48 wins & 33 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:

dying | cancer | hospital | philosophical | father son conflict | 

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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 [Italy]

Country:

Canada France

Language:

French English

Release Date:

5 March 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Barbarian Invasions

Filming Locations:

Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Box Office

Budget:

CAD 6,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$1,688,557 (France), 26 September 2003

Opening Weekend USA:

$79,650, 23 November 2003, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$3,432,342, 30 May 2004

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$6,289,563, 7 November 2003

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

Featured in The Hour: Episode #7.72 (2011)

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Soundtracks

Piano Trio in C Major
Music by Franz Joseph Haydn (as Haydn)
Éditions Analekta
Courtesy of Intermède Pik Music

User Reviews

A Touching Movie About Friendship and Farewell to Life

In Montreal, Rémy (Remy Girard) is an atheistic professor of history and lover of women, who has a terminal disease. His wife calls their son, Sébastien (Stéphane Rousseau) to come from London, where he works as a successful investor. Sébastien arrives in Montreal with his mate, and using his money and corruption, he improves the condition of his father in a public Canadian hospital. He gathers his father's friends around him, and they stay together until the death of Rémy. This low budget movie is a touching story about friendship and farewell to life, alternating drama with acid dialogs about religion, history, life, political system, literature and many other themes. The cast has a great performance, flowing the story in a very natural way. At least twice, the characters say that they are not in the Third World, and I certainly agree with that. But I was really surprised and impressed with the way subjects like corruption, Canadian public heath system, labor union, ministerial of exterior, bureaucracy, police, drug dealers etc. are presented in this film. If what this movie shows is reality, then they are in the right way to join the club... My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): ` As Invasões Bárbaras' (`The Barbarians Invasion')