You know those movies where a group of friends get together and the film consists of a series of conversations between them regarding their lives, loves and many interminglings? Well, take one of those and make the characters completely unlikeable, thin and not remotely interesting and you've got The Decline of the American Empire. Now take those worthless characters, age them twenty years and make one of them dying and you've got The Barbarian Invasions.
Invasions is slightly more bearable thanks to a surprisingly rich, emotional performance by Marie-Josee Croze (surprising because someone of her skill shouldn't have the misfortune of being in a film like this), but both films are horrid experiences overall. You can feel writer/director Denys Arcand sitting behind the pages, writing these characters and smiling with delight over how witty and bold he finds their pattering on, but all that comes out is forced, pseudo-intellectual garbage.
There's a disturbing irony to it all because the film glazes over these dark, significant themes like infidelity and drug abuse but Arcand's approach is so flat and vanilla that none of it gets explored with even the slightest bit of depth or intelligence. I have no idea how this film received such high praise from critics foreign and domestic. You can't live in a world where a true auteur such as Arnaud Desplechin is crafting ensemble character dramas that are so vivid and fascinating, and then look at this garbage and think it's anything worth watching.
Invasions is slightly more bearable thanks to a surprisingly rich, emotional performance by Marie-Josee Croze (surprising because someone of her skill shouldn't have the misfortune of being in a film like this), but both films are horrid experiences overall. You can feel writer/director Denys Arcand sitting behind the pages, writing these characters and smiling with delight over how witty and bold he finds their pattering on, but all that comes out is forced, pseudo-intellectual garbage.
There's a disturbing irony to it all because the film glazes over these dark, significant themes like infidelity and drug abuse but Arcand's approach is so flat and vanilla that none of it gets explored with even the slightest bit of depth or intelligence. I have no idea how this film received such high praise from critics foreign and domestic. You can't live in a world where a true auteur such as Arnaud Desplechin is crafting ensemble character dramas that are so vivid and fascinating, and then look at this garbage and think it's anything worth watching.