Les invasions barbares
Rémy is in the last stages of a terminal illness. His ex-wife Louise contacts their son Sébastien, from whom Rémy is estranged, and he returns to Canada from London to say goodbye. Sébastien arranges for many of Rémy's ex-lovers to say goodbye too, and works around the Québécois health system, healing wounds and not just the obvious ones.
I watched this because I knew it had won a "foreign language" Oscar, and didn't realise until it had finished that it followed a previous film, Le déclin de l'empire américain. I wish I had seen that first as it may have helped me to know and perhaps like the characters in this one - I didn't feel as if they were any more than actors acting in a film, it didn't feel real to me and I didn't believe any of it. 6½/10

Η αγαπημένη ταινία της εφηβείας μου. Μετά από αυτό άρχισα να διαβάζω Ιστορία στο σχολείο.

το ευτυχισμένο τέλος ενός καθηγητή σε terminal condition, κάνοντας την never ending κλασική συζήτηση με φίλους, για την ανθρωπότητα, την σοφία, τους πολέμους, την αγάπη, την θρησκεία, το νόημα, τις ουτοπίες και όλα αυτά, για τελευταία φορά.

When I first saw the imdb page for this it said `a provocative comedy` but after seeing it I really can't dare to classify it at all, it is a movie with deep interesting characters and deals with all sorts of issues like the purpose of life along with our relevance on it... it feels tangible and real, it's really something else.

Les invasions barbares
Rémy is in the last stages of a terminal illness. His ex-wife Louise contacts their son Sébastien, from whom Rémy is estranged, and he returns to Canada from London to say goodbye. Sébastien arranges for many of Rémy's ex-lovers to say goodbye too, and works around the Québécois health system, healing wounds and not just the obvious ones.
I watched this because I knew it had won a "foreign language" Oscar, and didn't realise until it had finished that it followed a previous film, Le déclin de l'empire américain. I wish I had seen that first as it may have helped me to know and perhaps like the characters in this one - I didn't feel as if they were any more than actors acting in a film, it didn't feel real to me and I didn't believe any of it. 6½/10

The screenplay shows Arcand's limitations as a writer of heavy drama, but it still has many great moments. More importantly, his direction shows his many virtues portraying people in vulnerable situations and group dynamics. In my opinion, much better than the original overall, but this film is especially moving in portraying the protagonist's communion with his ordinariness and messed up family (dis)union. I might even say it's the best example of this in my limited film-watching experience. The dialogues run the spectrum between hot and cold, but what magnificent silences this film boasts, helped by a very precise and evocative score. 3½ stars and all, I do love this flawed gem.

Tremenda bulla en su momento con esta película. Más allá de que el protagonista es repugnante, no me pareció gran cosa.

Η αγαπημένη ταινία της εφηβείας μου. Μετά από αυτό άρχισα να διαβάζω Ιστορία στο σχολείο.

Very good, and very 'French'. Didn't realise it was a sequel after I imdb'd it after. I suppose I'll have to see 'The Decline of the Ameircan Empire' now

Its a story of one man dying but it is also a darkly funny and definitely unpretentious look at the importance of family, friends and life

Really smart, moving and funny.
A motion picture about a dying man that shows us how to live.

το ευτυχισμένο τέλος ενός καθηγητή σε terminal condition, κάνοντας την never ending κλασική συζήτηση με φίλους, για την ανθρωπότητα, την σοφία, τους πολέμους, την αγάπη, την θρησκεία, το νόημα, τις ουτοπίες και όλα αυτά, για τελευταία φορά.