The Barbarian Invasions

Winning the Oscar for Best Foreign Language film of 2003, filmmaker Denys Arcand's French Canadian comedy-drama is a semi-sequel to his 1986 arthouse hit The Decline of the American Empire--an ensemble piece that aimed to be both literate and gently wise (a sort of northern The Big Chill), but was actually rather flippant and thin. The premise here is that one of the garrulous, philandering academicians from the first film, history professor Remy (Remy Girard), is terminally ill, and his ex-wife summons not only their businessman son (Stephane Rousseau) but many of the professor's old friends to Montreal to cheer his final days. Much conversation and a variety of arch situations follow, but while some of the banter is engaging and occasional moments are tinged with melancholy, the sophistication often seems strained. Nor do the characters carry much weight, either comic or dramatic; all are basically vacuous entities whose behavior amuses mostly because of their calculated shallowness. Certainly in Girard's fussy, broad performance, Remy never achieves the tragic dimension needed to give the picture any real depth. Optional. [Note: DVD extras include the 51-minute making-of documentary “Inside The Barbarian Invasions,” and trailers. Bottom line: a meaty making-of for one of 2003's most lauded--if not universally loved--foreign films.] (F. Swietek)