Les Invasions Barbares
Sep. 29th, 2003 09:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jawnbcJust in from seeing Les Invasions Barbares, The Barbarian Invasions, at the Vancouver International Film Fest.
I have been moved.
Rémy is in hospital in Montréal with terminal cancer. His ex-wife calls their estranged son Sébastien (living in London) and begs for him to come and help her deal with Rémy's impending death. His sister is incommunicado on a yacht in the South Pacific. Reluctantly, Sébastian comes, bringing his French fiancée Gaelle with him. Sébastien has to sort out his father's care. And their complex relationship. And organize his Dad's circle of friends to reconnect and say goodbye.
Sébastien is the child of an intellectual (his father, a professor of history). He is also the child of Québec nationalism, a powerful social movement led by the baby boom generation of Québec's cultural elite. The nationalist project has led to the creation of a large welfare state--and arguably led the rest of Canada to follow suit--but the structures aren't bearing up under the weight of Québec's highly taxes, under-invested economy. Many bright young québecers have left for London or New York or Paris--where opportunities seem greater--creating a social capital network that transgresses and blurs cultural and linguistic lines that have been the source of great tension in la belle province soi-même. The dreams of one generation have informed and shaped the next, but often in unexpected and unwelcome ways.
There are several invasions here: cancer invades Rémy's body. International trade invades Québec's protectionist economy and social safety net. And barbarians--terrorists--have recently struck at the heart of America, very close geographically and increasingly close economically, thanks to the North American Free Trade Agreement. There is fear, there is uncertainty, there is anger. At all levels.
Sébastien's response to his parents has been to reject their socialist/nationalist ideals and to pursue "la rêve americaine": advanced education, a career in finance, and is already a millionaire before his 40th birthday. He's learned how to scheme and deal and hustle, and how to get things done--largely by greasing the wheels with copious amounts of cash. But what he can't finesse or control so easily is pain--not his father's due to cancer, nor his own due to...well, his father.
Enter Nathalie. The daughter of one of Rémy's ex-lovers, she's estranged from her Mum and is a high-functioning (holds a job) heroin addict. She knows something about how to manage pain...or not. Intially Sébastien hires her to procure and administer heroin to Rémy, but their relationships--Rémy and Nathalie, Nathalie and Sébastien, and ultimately Sébastien and Rémy--begin to shift.
Les Invasions Barbares is about politics, family, idealism and reality, love and responsibility, trust and pain. Denis Arcand navigates deftly through current events and personal relationships (he's twice been nominated for best foreign language film at the Oscars, for Le Déclin de l'empire Américain and my favourite film of all time, Jésus de Montréal), with the result being a film that, while it resonates perhaps most strongly with Canadians, is compelling on its own terms. There is a lot of buzz about this film: Arcand won the best screenplay and Marie-Josée Croze (as Nathalie) the best actress award at Cannes. And it is the Canadian film eligible for the best Foreign language Oscar, perhaps third time lucky for Denis?
Miramax has picked it up for US distribution: it's to be released in NY and LA in late November, and to a wider US audience in December. Plus it's playing the festival circuit right now.
I have been moved.
Rémy is in hospital in Montréal with terminal cancer. His ex-wife calls their estranged son Sébastien (living in London) and begs for him to come and help her deal with Rémy's impending death. His sister is incommunicado on a yacht in the South Pacific. Reluctantly, Sébastian comes, bringing his French fiancée Gaelle with him. Sébastien has to sort out his father's care. And their complex relationship. And organize his Dad's circle of friends to reconnect and say goodbye.
Sébastien is the child of an intellectual (his father, a professor of history). He is also the child of Québec nationalism, a powerful social movement led by the baby boom generation of Québec's cultural elite. The nationalist project has led to the creation of a large welfare state--and arguably led the rest of Canada to follow suit--but the structures aren't bearing up under the weight of Québec's highly taxes, under-invested economy. Many bright young québecers have left for London or New York or Paris--where opportunities seem greater--creating a social capital network that transgresses and blurs cultural and linguistic lines that have been the source of great tension in la belle province soi-même. The dreams of one generation have informed and shaped the next, but often in unexpected and unwelcome ways.
There are several invasions here: cancer invades Rémy's body. International trade invades Québec's protectionist economy and social safety net. And barbarians--terrorists--have recently struck at the heart of America, very close geographically and increasingly close economically, thanks to the North American Free Trade Agreement. There is fear, there is uncertainty, there is anger. At all levels.
Sébastien's response to his parents has been to reject their socialist/nationalist ideals and to pursue "la rêve americaine": advanced education, a career in finance, and is already a millionaire before his 40th birthday. He's learned how to scheme and deal and hustle, and how to get things done--largely by greasing the wheels with copious amounts of cash. But what he can't finesse or control so easily is pain--not his father's due to cancer, nor his own due to...well, his father.
Enter Nathalie. The daughter of one of Rémy's ex-lovers, she's estranged from her Mum and is a high-functioning (holds a job) heroin addict. She knows something about how to manage pain...or not. Intially Sébastien hires her to procure and administer heroin to Rémy, but their relationships--Rémy and Nathalie, Nathalie and Sébastien, and ultimately Sébastien and Rémy--begin to shift.
Les Invasions Barbares is about politics, family, idealism and reality, love and responsibility, trust and pain. Denis Arcand navigates deftly through current events and personal relationships (he's twice been nominated for best foreign language film at the Oscars, for Le Déclin de l'empire Américain and my favourite film of all time, Jésus de Montréal), with the result being a film that, while it resonates perhaps most strongly with Canadians, is compelling on its own terms. There is a lot of buzz about this film: Arcand won the best screenplay and Marie-Josée Croze (as Nathalie) the best actress award at Cannes. And it is the Canadian film eligible for the best Foreign language Oscar, perhaps third time lucky for Denis?
Miramax has picked it up for US distribution: it's to be released in NY and LA in late November, and to a wider US audience in December. Plus it's playing the festival circuit right now.
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no subject
Date: 2003-09-29 09:48 pm (UTC)Must.
I hope the don't screw it up and edit for distribution or anything like that.
Re: a moving film
Date: 2003-09-29 11:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-09-29 11:44 pm (UTC)Your review of Les invasions barbares makes it sound compelling, I wonder if and when it might be released in Australia?
As to matters quebecois, I am a person who, when visiting Canada for 5 days spent 4.5 in Ville de Quebec and Montreal, and about 12 hours in Toronto, and in reading history barracked for Montcalm over Wolfe. (I had to go to Quebec to stand on the Plains of Abraham, sigh....)
Re: a moving film
Date: 2003-09-29 11:54 pm (UTC)it may appear in the festival circuit before they release it in Oz....
Awesome Reviews
Date: 2003-09-30 10:42 am (UTC)If there was not interest in these movies already, you have definitely generated more than quite a bit.
Re: Awesome Reviews
Date: 2003-09-30 10:51 am (UTC)