Les Invasions Barbares | Review

Bring out the tissues; Arcand will hit the deep emotional cords within.

I originally balked at the notion of there being a continuation to this film; would film director and writer Denys Arcand destroy his own creation which was nicely preserved on video for future generations? Would the cast of characters in Le Decline de L’empire American be written for the simple box-office success? I couldn’t have been more wrong.

In 1986, we were made conscious about what men and women truly thought about in their relationships with one-another, the film easily became a contemporary hit inside the walls of La Belle Province. Almost two decades later, Arcand gives us the same batch of freedom of speech and emotionally open characters, who are not concerned about white hairs or tummy tucks- they have grown up and so have we. For those of us who had the unfortunate chance of watching his last effort in Stardom, you’ll be happy to know that the Les Invasions Barbares is not accidentally going into the official competition category at Cannes, Arcand has created something here which will unexpectedly move you, perhaps even profoundly hit you.

With a Big Chill feel, time has spread this cast of baby-boomers apart, but what brings them back together is not a 50th birthday party. The same worries and preoccupations still exist, except that the decline of civilization is linked to other invasive forms. As a direct cause of these forces that penetrate us, we are given one man’s (Rémy Girard –Les Boys) struggle with terminal form of cancer and a young women’s aimless generation pains of being a junkie (Marie-Josée Croze-Ararat). Both portraits are simple, beautifully portrayed as living a true life crisis with the type of emotions that you’d expect from someone who doesn’t want to leave or live in this world.

I like how the film attacks some of the current social issues, the factuality of drug scene, how religion has lost its grip in society and how the current state of hospitals is in a total mess. But what makes this film a pure joy to watch, is the honesty found inside the characterizations. I love how both the rage and the joy of the colorful and animated central character is vehicled in his conversations among friends, inside the difficult relationship with his son and how it is visually transmitted into his favorite passion-a love for women best described by a montage sequence of silver-screen stars of the 50’s. The campfire sequence with French proverbs for Fellatio or a statement about the invasion of technology with a cell phone is fittingly appropriate and is a subtle use of smart humor. Obviously, the saddest part and most touching aspect of the film is how this adding and subtracting equation takes us from the pleasures of life to death’s doorstep. This process and how Arcand’s story takes us there really impacts the sentiment of the desire to live life and the pain of letting go of it.

There are signs that it can become a hard balancing act when you incorporate comedy with drama, some of the exaggerated situations mostly found in the secondary characters are turn-offs and the drug dealer subplot seems to be a showcase to add a couple of more popular cultural faces. However, for the most part, Arcand blesses us with a very important picture here which doesn’t pound the meaning of life message, but rather makes a true effort at discussing how we as individuals and as a society manage to cherish and/or screw-up our relationships with those we love the most. American producers should take a serious look at this picture and note that it doesn’t take sappy characters, a triumphant musical score or a Meryl Streep to make an endearing sentiment look this authentic. This has easily become one of my top favorite films produced from Quebec; hopefully after our famous maple syrup, you’ll get to taste this film treat.

Viewed in original French language.

Rating 4 stars