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The Barbarian Invasions

Original title: Les invasions barbares
  • 20032003
  • RR
  • 1h 39m
IMDb RATING
7.5/10
29K
YOUR RATING
The Barbarian Invasions (2003)
Home Video Trailer from Miramax
Play trailer0:58
4 Videos
38 Photos
  • Comedy
  • Crime
  • Drama
During his final days, a dying man is reunited with old friends, former lovers, his ex-wife, and his estranged son.During his final days, a dying man is reunited with old friends, former lovers, his ex-wife, and his estranged son.During his final days, a dying man is reunited with old friends, former lovers, his ex-wife, and his estranged son.
IMDb RATING
7.5/10
29K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Denys Arcand
  • Writer
    • Denys Arcand
  • Stars
    • Rémy Girard
    • Dorothée Berryman
    • Stéphane Rousseau
Top credits
  • Director
    • Denys Arcand
  • Writer
    • Denys Arcand
  • Stars
    • Rémy Girard
    • Dorothée Berryman
    • Stéphane Rousseau
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 173User reviews
    • 121Critic reviews
    • 70Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Won 1 Oscar
      • 50 wins & 38 nominations total

    Videos4

    The Barbarian Invasions
    Trailer 0:58
    The Barbarian Invasions
    The Barbarian Invasions
    Trailer 0:58
    The Barbarian Invasions
    The Barbarian Invasions
    Trailer 1:18
    The Barbarian Invasions
    Streaming Passport to Canada
    Clip 6:08
    Streaming Passport to Canada

    Photos38

    Rémy Girard and Stéphane Rousseau in The Barbarian Invasions (2003)
    Dorothée Berryman, Toni Cecchinato, Pierre Curzi, Rémy Girard, Marina Hands, Yves Jacques, Dominique Michel, Louise Portal, and Stéphane Rousseau in The Barbarian Invasions (2003)
    Yves Jacques and Dominique Michel in The Barbarian Invasions (2003)
    Rémy Girard and Stéphane Rousseau in The Barbarian Invasions (2003)
    Marie-Josée Croze and Rémy Girard in The Barbarian Invasions (2003)
    Marie-Josée Croze in The Barbarian Invasions (2003)
    (L-R) Sylvie Drapeau, Rémy Girard, Guy Dufaux (Dir. of Photography), Francois Daigneault and Denys Arcand.
    Deborah Kara Unger at an event for The Barbarian Invasions (2003)
    Deborah Kara Unger at an event for The Barbarian Invasions (2003)
    Deborah Kara Unger at an event for The Barbarian Invasions (2003)
    Denys Arcand and Denise Robert at an event for The Barbarian Invasions (2003)
    Denys Arcand at an event for The Barbarian Invasions (2003)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Rémy Girard
    Rémy Girard
    • Rémyas Rémy
    Dorothée Berryman
    Dorothée Berryman
    • Louiseas Louise
    Stéphane Rousseau
    Stéphane Rousseau
    • Sébastienas Sébastien
    Marie-Josée Croze
    Marie-Josée Croze
    • Nathalieas Nathalie
    Marina Hands
    Marina Hands
    • Gaëlleas Gaëlle
    Johanne-Marie Tremblay
    Johanne-Marie Tremblay
    • Sister Constance Lazureas Sister Constance Lazure
    • (as Johanne Marie Tremblay)
    Pierre Curzi
    Pierre Curzi
    • Pierre Citrouillardas Pierre Citrouillard
    Yves Jacques
    Yves Jacques
    • Claudeas Claude
    Louise Portal
    Louise Portal
    • Diane Leonardas Diane Leonard
    Dominique Michel
    Dominique Michel
    • Dominique St. Arnaudas Dominique St. Arnaud
    Isabelle Blais
    Isabelle Blais
    • Sylvaineas Sylvaine
    Toni Cecchinato
    • Alessandroas Alessandro
    Sophie Lorain
    Sophie Lorain
    • First Loveras First Lover
    Mitsou
    Mitsou
    • Ghislaineas Ghislaine
    • (as Mitsou Gélinas)
    Markita Boies
    Markita Boies
    • Nurse Suzanneas Nurse Suzanne
    Micheline Lanctôt
    Micheline Lanctôt
    • Nurse Caroleas Nurse Carole
    Denis Bouchard
    Denis Bouchard
    • Duhamelas Duhamel
    Sylvie Drapeau
    Sylvie Drapeau
    • Second Loveras Second Lover
    • Director
      • Denys Arcand
    • Writer
      • Denys Arcand
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

    Here's Your Streaming Passport to Canada

    Here's Your Streaming Passport to Canada

    On this IMDbrief, we present a Streaming Passport to just a few of our favorites from and about the world's neighbor in the North.
    Take a trip
    [object Object]

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      It is the first sequel ever to win the Best Foreign Language Film award at the Oscars.
    • Goofs
      The position of the cars outside the window changes when Sébastien first meets Nathalie in the restaurant.
    • 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. So much so tha the Dutch, English, French, and later Americans followed their lead and butchered another 50 million. 200 million dead in all! The greatest massacre in history took place right here. And not the tiniest holocaust museum. The history of mankind is a history of horrors.

    • Alternate versions
      The movie exists in the wide-release 98-minute international version and also a "112-minute version" available on DVD.
    • Connections
      Edited from Cielo sulla palude (1949)
    • Soundtracks
      L'Amitié
      Music by Gérard Bourgeois

      Lyrics by Jean-Max Rivière

      Performed by Françoise Hardy

      (c) 1965 by éditions Alpha

      (p) 1965 Disques Vogue

      By kind permission of BMG France

    User reviews173

    Review
    Top review
    10/10
    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.
    helpful•132
    30
    • canadude
    • Jul 16, 2004

    FAQ1

    • Why does Rémy say that he would have "written" the periodic table?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • March 5, 2004 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • Canada
      • France
    • Official sites
      • Bim Distribuzione (Italy)
      • Miramax
    • Languages
      • French
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Invasion of the Barbarians
    • Filming locations
      • Memphremagog Lake, Estrie, Québec, Canada
    • Production companies
      • Pyramide Productions
      • Cinémaginaire Inc.
      • Astral Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • CA$6,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $8,544,975
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $461,363
      • May 11, 2003
    • Gross worldwide
      • $34,883,010
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 39 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
      • Dolby SR
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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