Denys Arcand's Le Déclin de l'empire Américain and Les Invasions Barbares

by André Loiselle

The release of Denys Arcand’s Le Déclin de l’'empire américain (The Decline of the American Empire) in 1986 marked a major turning point in Quebec cinema. It was the first Québécois film that enjoyed huge critical and commercial success at home and abroad. Arcand’s tragicomedy about eight intellectuals gathered around a dinner table relating sexy anecdotes became the top-grossing film of all time in Quebec and was the first Canadian feature to be nominated for an Oscar in the foreign-language category. Seventeen years later, Arcand won an Academy Award for the sequel, Les Invasions barbares (The Barbarian Invasions), where the amusing insouciance of the thirty-somethings talking dirty in Le Déclin is replaced by a sense of moral responsibility and serene resignation.

In this engrossing study, André Loiselle presents the first in-depth analysis of both films within the context of Quebec culture. Through close readings and concise cultural analysis of two of the most important films in the history of Quebec cinema, Loiselle demonstrates the ways in which Arcand’s work represents a snapshot of the evolution of the French Canadian film industry since 1980. The companion films trace the decline of Quebec’s national dream and the Québécois’s attempts to cling to their identity against the forces of barbaric globalization.

The second title in the new Canadian Cinema series, Denys Arcand’s ‘Le Déclin de l’empire américain’ and ‘Les Invasions barbares’ is essential reading for cinephiles, film critics, and anyone with an interest in cultural studies and Canadian and Quebec history.

200 pages, Paperback

First published October 25, 2008

Reviews

[Jessrawk · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the author insists that it is now impossible to think of Le déclin without thinking of Les invasions, there is truly very little analysis of the two films in conjunction. Kind of disappointing. It also, in a not positive way, feels as though he wanted to write about Arcand's entire oeuvre, but was unable to do so (or get the funding to do so?). Instead, the book meanders into his other films without linking back to what they mean to the two under examination. Still worth a read for some of the theories & ideas laid out.

[Nick Nguyen · Rating 4 out of 5]

For some reason I can't give half star ratings. This should be 4.5 stars.

Excellent monograph on Denys Arcand's one-two punch. Loiselle provides a cogent analysis of the films in a variety of contexts that help illuminate their connections with each other and with the cultures that they are engaged with. A great read and a solid introduction to these important Canadian films.