Arcand, Denys

Jesus of Montreal

What happens to the people putting on a Passion Play? Someday Mel Gibson may tell us, but Denys Arcand's Jesus of Montreal proposes an engaging possibility. In hip present-day Montreal, a group of actors stages the Passion in an outdoor, somewhat avant-garde style, led by the quietly charismatic and increasingly uncanny young man (Lothaire Bluteau, Black Robe) playing Christ. His identification with the role, and the way it bleeds into real life, gives director Denys Arcand plenty of opportunities for social comment--some of it spot-on, some of it a little facile. But the fragile Bluteau is such a fascinating lead presence (the other actors are familiar from Arcand's Barbarian Invasions and Decline of the American Empire) that the movie's spell lasts long after it's over. Turns out the French-Canadian approach to the Passion can be just as intriguing as the original Aramaic. --Robert Horton

The Barbarian Invasions (Les Invasions Barbares)

The intriguing Denys Arcand (director of Jesus of Montreal and Stardom) returns to the lusty, cantankerous intellectuals of his first film, The Decline of the American Empire. Remy (Remy Girard), a history professor, is dying of cancer, and his estranged and financially successful son Sebastien (Stephane Rousseau) returns to care for the old man. With the power of money, Sebastien cuts through bureaucracy and the law to give his father some comfort--comfort that Remy accepts with reluctance, because in his eyes the unintellectual Sebastian has betrayed all of Remy's principles. Old friends arrive and soon the conversation turns to sex, religion, history, sex, academia, sex--The Barbarian Invasions isn't very focused, but the very breadth of its ideas makes it worth seeing; few movies even try to grapple with morality or the state of our culture, let alone with this kind of intelligence and grace. --Bret Fetzer

Academy Award(R) winner for Best Foreign Language Film in 2003, THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS is a provocative look at the many ties that bind a group of friends and lovers. It's not easy for a narrow-minded professor (Rémy Girard) to reconcile with his equally stubborn son. But soon, father and son find themselves gathering with their wide and colorful circle of family and friends to confront their differences, confess their secrets, and celebrate life! Winner of the Best Actress (Marie-Josée Croze) and Best Screenplay awards at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival -- critics everywhere hailed this outstanding motion picture as one of the year's best!

Stardom

This witty and skillful examination of contemporary celebrity depicts a Canadian girl's rise from teen hockey player to international supermodel, with a sharp, satirical eye at every step along the way. The rise and fall of Tina (real-life model Jessica Paré) is depicted through a cunning intersplicing of fake talk shows, local and international news programs, documentary footage, rock videos, and fashion travelogues. Yet in the process, director Denys Arcand (Jesus of Montreal, Love and Human Remains) still creates characters that--though comic and exaggerated--are sneakily real, including an obsessive restaurateur (Dan Aykroyd), a snobbish ambassador (Frank Langella), and an aloof, calculating agent (Thomas Gibson). Along with well-chosen topical references (from Bret Easton Ellis to Tiger Woods), the movie features many characters suspiciously close to real celebrities, particularly a photographer/documentarian with a marked resemblance to Bruce Weber. Stardom is smart, funny, and ultimately sympathetic. --Bret Fetzer

The Decline of the American Empire

You've never seen a sex comedy quite like The Decline of the American Empire. That's because there's no sex in this comedy--just a lot of entertaining talk about it (and a few discreet flashbacks). The speakers are eight Montreal academics. For most of the film, the men--Rémy (Rémy Girard), Claude (Yves Jacques), Pierre (Pierre Curzi), and Alain (Daniel Brière)--fix dinner while talking about sex. The women--Dominique (Dominique Michel), Louise (Dorothée Berryman), Diane (Louise Portal), and Danielle (Geneviève Rioux)--work out while talking about sex. That evening, they all gather for dinner... and talk about sex. The Decline of the American Empire made the reputation of writer-director Denys Arcand, but his greatest success would arrive 17 years later with The Barbarian Invasions. In that 2003 Oscar-winner, Arcand revisits the lovably loquacious characters from the first film, all of whom are older, wiser--and just as obsessed with sex. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Stardom

This witty and skillful examination of contemporary celebrity depicts a Canadian girl's rise from teen hockey player to international supermodel, with a sharp, satirical eye at every step along the way. The rise and fall of Tina (real-life model Jessica Paré) is depicted through a cunning intersplicing of fake talk shows, local and international news programs, documentary footage, rock videos, and fashion travelogues. Yet in the process, director Denys Arcand (Jesus of Montreal, Love and Human Remains) still creates characters that--though comic and exaggerated--are sneakily real, including an obsessive restaurateur (Dan Aykroyd), a snobbish ambassador (Frank Langella), and an aloof, calculating agent (Thomas Gibson). Along with well-chosen topical references (from Bret Easton Ellis to Tiger Woods), the movie features many characters suspiciously close to real celebrities, particularly a photographer/documentarian with a marked resemblance to Bruce Weber. Stardom is smart, funny, and ultimately sympathetic. --Bret Fetzer

Jesus of Montreal (French language only) (Import)

What happens to the people putting on a Passion Play? Someday Mel Gibson may tell us, but Denys Arcand's Jesus of Montreal proposes an engaging possibility. In hip present-day Montreal, a group of actors stages the Passion in an outdoor, somewhat avant-garde style, led by the quietly charismatic and increasingly uncanny young man (Lothaire Bluteau, Black Robe) playing Christ. His identification with the role, and the way it bleeds into real life, gives director Denys Arcand plenty of opportunities for social comment--some of it spot-on, some of it a little facile. But the fragile Bluteau is such a fascinating lead presence (the other actors are familiar from Arcand's Barbarian Invasions and Decline of the American Empire) that the movie's spell lasts long after it's over. Turns out the French-Canadian approach to the Passion can be just as intriguing as the original Aramaic. --Robert Horton

Stardom

This witty and skillful examination of contemporary celebrity depicts a Canadian girl's rise from teen hockey player to international supermodel, with a sharp, satirical eye at every step along the way. The rise and fall of Tina (real-life model Jessica Paré) is depicted through a cunning intersplicing of fake talk shows, local and international news programs, documentary footage, rock videos, and fashion travelogues. Yet in the process, director Denys Arcand (Jesus of Montreal, Love and Human Remains) still creates characters that--though comic and exaggerated--are sneakily real, including an obsessive restaurateur (Dan Aykroyd), a snobbish ambassador (Frank Langella), and an aloof, calculating agent (Thomas Gibson). Along with well-chosen topical references (from Bret Easton Ellis to Tiger Woods), the movie features many characters suspiciously close to real celebrities, particularly a photographer/documentarian with a marked resemblance to Bruce Weber. Stardom is smart, funny, and ultimately sympathetic. --Bret Fetzer

The Decline of the American Empire [Region 2]

You've never seen a sex comedy quite like The Decline of the American Empire. That's because there's no sex in this comedy--just a lot of entertaining talk about it (and a few discreet flashbacks). The speakers are eight Montreal academics. For most of the film, the men--Rémy (Rémy Girard), Claude (Yves Jacques), Pierre (Pierre Curzi), and Alain (Daniel Brière)--fix dinner while talking about sex. The women--Dominique (Dominique Michel), Louise (Dorothée Berryman), Diane (Louise Portal), and Danielle (Geneviève Rioux)--work out while talking about sex. That evening, they all gather for dinner... and talk about sex. The Decline of the American Empire made the reputation of writer-director Denys Arcand, but his greatest success would arrive 17 years later with The Barbarian Invasions. In that 2003 Oscar-winner, Arcand revisits the lovably loquacious characters from the first film, all of whom are older, wiser--and just as obsessed with sex. --Kathleen C. Fennessy