Les Invasions Barbares (The Barbarian Invasions)
Note – I came here to write in my journal about the recent bomb blasts back home (Isloo and Karachi), but decided to write about something that made me happy. I hope it can do the same for you. Never has a moment of elation been as precious as in these troubled times.
I’ve always been a mutt for talkies, and I don’t mean all movies with dialog (City Lights anyone!), I mean movies that live by the dialog and thrive in randomly persuasive conversations. Les Invasions Barbares is a French-Canadian movie that is just that. It is about people who love to converse, and converse they do, about everything they understand, and more importantly, everything they don’t. Family is also a very important theme here, in terms of how you’re always part of them, no matter how far you fly.
It stars Remy Girard, in all of his scene stealing glory, as a professor whose time has come. Remy must make peace with himself, his accomplishments, and above all his failures, the biggest being his relationship with his son Sebastian (who is basically the “mover” of the film, the character who gets things done). I know this seems like the premise of a weepy melodrama. Trust me, it is not. It also stars Marie-Josee Croze as Nathalie, a heroine addict, who helps in a very special way. So special that she actually won the best actress award at the Cannes Film Festival. Denys Arcand who wrote and directed the movie also won at Cannes for his screenplay. The Academy gave him an Oscar for Best Foreign Language film.
Remy and his group of wonderful friends feature in another movie Arcand made in 1986, The Decline of the American Empire. However Decline doesn’t need to be seen before the Invasions (even though Decline is very much worth a run, and then some re-runs). What’s interesting is that the group of friends have pretty much the same questions and doubts in 2003 that they had in 1986, and yet you can see that every character has grown, learned, and lost during this period.
There are some wonderful moments in the film. Sebastian’s first interaction with a couple of cops and the union. Remy’s conversation with Nathalie in his hospital “hotel” room. The moments by the lake. I’ve often been asked how I would want it all to end for me. Even though this movie wasn’t the answer, it did give a very nice, surreal option. Did the option stem out of realism? Perhaps not. Did it feel good? Yes, the goodness that has the ability to penetrate.
All in all I would recommend this movie to everyone of you on RIL, for it may give you a moment to slow down, find joy in some delightful conversations, and think about an era gone by. I hope it also makes you think about the friends that somehow drifted away quietly. And family that you drifted away from, perhaps not so quietly!
After all, we’re all just have conversations here right. 
I remember seeing a talkie, as you call it. It was lying in my computer randomly and I was bored, lol. I think its name was ‘Before Sunrise’ and there was a sequel too, ‘Before Sunset’ perhaps. Or maybe the other way round, but I’m sure these were the names. It was about two people from two different countries meeting up on a train and spending a day or two together. It really has no strong plot, just LOADS of conversation. I had never seen such a movie before but I simpl loved it. They talked about anything and everything and it was so interesting! I never knew everyday mundane conversation could be so entertaining too.
Yep, Before Sunrise was the one in which they meet on the train. Before Sunset was the one in which they meet 8-9 yrs later in Paris and have a little over an hour to talk. It also had one of the best endings in a movie. Love both those films!
btw, where did u run off to after the opening ceremony of your dhaba? you can’t run off like that, we driver-type-writers don’t have a place to go for chai then.
Ha Ha! Well I was enveloped by work (boring) and Mr. Dostoevsky! I wish I was a lit major, then I would have no excuse to go away.
I wish I was a lit major, too! : (
This was great. I will try finding it at Blockbuster. Is it at Blockbuster, Fraz?
Yep, I rented it from Blockbuster, and then kept it. Since it was a Canadian-French movie, I got it for 4 bucks. To think Meet The Spartans is selling for 30 bucks!
I wanted to share my love for before sunrise and before sunset and especially its end. I think it???s the most memorable and effective sort of open ended conclusion (please don???t read ahead I???m going to spoil the ending for whoever hasn???t seen the movie, apologies I just love talking about it) when Celine says ???you are going to miss that plane??? and he just says ???I know??? and that???s it. Deliciousness. Also the milkshake poem : )
wonderful.
question marks are the new quotations. heh.
Do you wan’t me to change them? Or you like the new way?
If you want to avoid it, do not write in MS Word and copy paste, write directly in this window. Or you could manually change all the quotation marks after pasting. Apologies for the inconvenience.
Yes the ending exchange was beautiful, specially in terms of the moods they were in, she just dancing around in her own little circle, and he sitting on the sofa smiling, and I really loved how the camera then pans out. I also loved the waltz Celine sings.