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Nominated for Best Foreign Film for the upcoming Oscars, Les Invasions Barbares is a moving Canadian/French co-production. The themes of the movie are rather heavy but treated with respect and a certain, yet appropriate, light-heartedness.
R’my is a college professor, diagnosed with cancer and with only a few weeks to live. His son S’bastien, a workaholic businessman, is doing everything that lies within his power (or actually: what his money can buy) to make the last days of his father more bearable. The relationship with his father has always been bad and the two of them have never really understood each other. R’my has always been a real Casanova and his wife has always stayed at his side despite his adulterous escapades. When S’bastien has gathered all of his father’s old friends, the group reminisce about their lives. And one of the daughters of R’my’s previous mistresses has a rather unconventional method of easing the dying man’s pain…
The subject of cancer has been treated in all kinds of different ways throughout cinematic history. The remarkable thing about Les Invasions Barbares is that it doesn’t underestimate the influence of the disease on peoples’ lives, but at the same time tries not to put too much emphasis on it and could easily be described as a dramatic comedy. The characters all undergo important changes and come across really realistically And the supporting part of Nathalie, played by Canadian actress Marie-Jos’e Croze, is truly amazing in the way she portrays a heroin-addict, not knowing whether to choose between her mother – with whom she lost contact – or getting a fix.
The only true flaws in the movie are that it has several plotholes and the ending of storyline is a bit clich’d. I doubt if Les Invasions will, in fact, go home with an Academy Award, but it is a good contender.
Directed by: Denys Arcand
Starring: R’my Girard, St’phane Rousseau and Doroth’e Berryman
‘Les Invasions Barbares’ runs 99 minutes, is already showing in the US and opens February 20 in the UK and March 4 in the Netherlands
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Arjan Welles (213 posts)Arjan Welles - law graduate. I work at a bank, I work as a film critic for Dutch and English media. My favorite directors are David Lynch, David Fincher, Alfred Hitchcock, Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino. I love arthouse over blockbusters.
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Well, as we know it did take the award.
I completely agree with everything Arjan has to say about this film and would only like to add an emphasis on how moving the performances are. All of the actors deserve praise.
The film does have some plot holes here and there, but none are too big to be really disturbing. These mainly come about because the story tries to elude to some deeper social issues for which the dominate plot line is suppose to act as a metaphor. It’s actually the sort of film I would recommend to watch a couple of times as there are a lot of things to take in as the plot, and the performances work on several different levels.
Comment by denise — Fri May 7, 2004 @ 11:52