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The Barbarian Invasions (2003): 7/10

Poster (c) Miramax Films

It's usually just the movies that seems marketable that spawn sequels. And unless it's part of a series, foriegn films even more rarely have sequels. However, Denys Arcand made a sequel to his 1986 film The Fall of the American Empire with this Oscar-winning movie, The Barbarian Invasions. It has many of its characters come back (mostly in supporting roles), but this movie features Rémy, a former college professor, who is dying. He led a wild life when he was younger, and he wishes to make up for it somehow. Also, he cannot accept the fact that he is actually dying. With help of his family and friends, he's slowly making peace with himself and others around him.

As deep as the movie is, I find it hard to say a lot about it. It's quite funny at times, even with the subtitles, although sometimes the humor dives into crudity and shocking words (some that I did not expect). The story of Rémy is rather shallow, but works in the runtime. Throughout the movie, he gives interesting ideas on life, the universe, and everything. The overarching theme of barbarian invasions doesn't really work, but the movie works well with juggling the humor and the pathos. Overall, I wish I had more to say, but The Barbarian Invasions is a good movie. Worthy of Best Foreign Language film? Probably not, but it's still worth a watch.

Rated R for language, sexual dialogue and drug content.

Review Date: May 5, 2004