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Les incontournables
québécois.
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Un incontournable québécois
Réalisé en 1986 par Denys Arcand, Le Déclin de l’empire américain porte un regard cinglant sur la bourgeoisie et les milieux universitaires québécois. Son scénario brillant aux répliques savoureuses servies par une brochette d’acteurs de haute tenue (D. Michel, D. Berryman, L. Portal, P. Curzi, R. Girard, Y. Jacques) lui a, tout naturellement, valu d’être finaliste aux oscars, sacré meilleur film canadien au festival de Toronto en 86, et récompensé par huit prix Génie et par le prix de la critique internationale à Cannes.
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Plus de 15 ans après sa sortie, Le Déclin de l’Empire américain, de Denys Arcand, reste encore le plus grand succès international du cinéma québécois. Un classique. Présenté au Festival de Cannes au printemps 1986, Le Déclin… s’est attiré un engouement immédiat. Le public français a couru voir cette “comédie canadienne” dans laquelle une poignée de professeurs universitaires parlent un peu de cœur et beaucoup de cul, lors d’un week-end à la campagne qui finit plus mal qu’il n’a commencé.
Le Déclin…, qui a obtenu une nomination aux Oscars, deux prix au Festival de Toronto et neuf prix Génie, a connu une carrière exceptionnelle. Son succès en salles a fait oublier qu’il s’agissait au départ d’un film à petit budget (ce que les Américains appellent un “talking heads movie”) et d’une comédie grinçante et pessimiste. En effet, si le scénario de Denys Arcand dessine des personnages truculents et regorge de dialogues savoureux, la critique que le cinéaste fait de la bourgeoisie québécoise, baignant dans le confort et l’indifférence, est cinglante.
Fin moraliste et amuseur doué, Arcand est aussi un excellent directeur d’acteurs, qui donne ici des rôles superbes à Dominique Michel, Dorothée Berryman, Louise Portal, Geneviève Rioux, Rémy Girard, Pierre Curzi, Yves Jacques et Gabriel Arcand. --Éric Fourlanty
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Most helpful customer reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Critism from the inside out with intelligence!,
By
This review is from: Le Déclin de l'empire américain (DVD)
This film is not just about men view on women or women view on men or sex viewed by men or sex viewed by women.It is about Hystory. Denys Arcand is an hystorian first of all. It also is about intellectuals leftist who became the new bourgeoisie. It is about a part of the world, Québec province in Canada, who changed immensely throught out the 60's and the 70's when its french intellectuals finally had the opportunity to educate them self and becoming their own leader in every profession from top to bottom. It is about the left politics view of a new born nation that in the 80's is already getting old and its leftist intellectuals are becoming exactly what they were fighting in their youth. This movie has so many dimension it had to have a sequel 17 years later that answers every question that it was rising in the 80's with the sublime The Barbarian Invasions. Both are a must see!
4.0 out of 5 stars
Engaging, intelligent, often funny, talk-fest about sex,
By
This review is from: The Decline of the American Empire (DVD)
Sort of a French-Canadian 'Big Chill', but smarter, if less emotional.
There really isn't a plot. For the first half of the film four upscale, yuppie male friends (one gay) prepare a meal and talk about sex, while their female counterparts do the same at a gym. The 2nd half is the two groups sharing dinner, where the talk is more muted, but the personal stakes much higher. Probably over-hyped as a masterpiece when it first came out, now it's often treated too harshly. The acting is strong throughout, and the satiric point that all the characters believe themselves self-knowing, but are really all living in denial and delusion is perhaps a little obvious, but interesting in it's effect and execution.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.0 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews) 13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An enjoyable watch, though not as good as its sequel.,
By Ranajoy Raychaudhuri - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Decline of the American Empire (VHS Tape)
I guess like a lot of other viewers, I hadn't watched "The Decline of the American Empire" until after I had watched its sequel. Four men and four women get together in a house by the lakeside in Quebec and what follows will keep you engrossed till the end. Director Denys Arcand has the characters play out how they would spend a normal holiday, but "normal" for them has a slightly different meaning than for us ordinary folks.
There's a much younger Remy, the professor at the University of Laval, womanizer par excellence, alongside his (comparatively) straightlaced wife Louise. Pierre, the host, is seeing Danielle, a history student at the university, who was his masseur at a parlor where he is a regular. Their gay friend Claude lives alone because of his compulsive urges to cruise. Then there's the naive and innocent Alain, both Remy and Pierre's ex-mistress Dominique and finally Diane, who's in a BDSM relationship with a guy who scoffs at Claude's Russian trout dish, wine and pilsner but still turns him on as he resembles one of his ex-lovers. The movie follows their conversations over the course of the day, the night and the next morning, interspersed with flashbacks. As Louise says to the BDSM guy, intellectuals love to talk ... and boy, do they talk! Constantly trading barbs, reeling off historical accounts, offering informed opinions on issues (though not as engaging as those in the sequel) and above all, discussing their sex lives (which are nothing short of spectacular) ... the interchanges won't feel dull for a moment. Remy, as usual, is utterly lovable in his depravity. On a personal note, I like "The Barbarian Invasions" better as I feel that Arcand has refined his style even more over the years so that he is at his peak by this time, but nevertheless this is an enjoyable (if a bit uneven) watch ... not to mention the deja vu that fills you the entire time as you recognize the characters and relate to them as scenes from the other movie come back to you. 4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Let's talk about sex,
By Bomojaz - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Decline of the American Empire (DVD)
Four middle-aged successful couples examine the sexual revolution. The men all meet and talk (they are preparing a dinner), and the women all meet, too (in a gym). The movie is almost all talk as each person reveals his or her own story and feelings. They then all meet and talk some more, and some illusions are destroyed via certain betrayals. It's rare to see such a sophisticated film, though it's very stagey and not very dramatic. (At one point a man, not part of the group, says, "All they do is talk about sex and then sit down to a fish dinner.") An interesting picture, though, for the most part. In French.
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A pithy, straight to the heart view of people and humanity.,
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Decline of the American Empire (VHS Tape)
One of the warmest, coolest and most bracing films I have seen. I cried with laughter and sadness and realisition at a film that is refreshingly bold about human weakness and strengths. Very funny, stirring, sad...true. SEE THIS FILM.
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