Cinema
The Decline of the American Empire
Le Déclin de l'empire américain
Denys Arcand · 1986
Synopsis
An autumn afternoon on the shores of Lake Memphremagog. Three history professors and a young student prepare dinner in a chalet, while the women of the group, colleagues or partners, work out at a sports club in town. Some peeling vegetables, the others lifting weights, they talk about sex with a calm bluntness: affairs, the lies of the couple, and Claude, who fears he has caught AIDS. In the evening, the two groups meet around the table.
Context
The film was shot in Montreal and in the Eastern Townships in the autumn of 1985. It rests almost entirely on conversation: two groups talk in turn before coming together, after an opening in which Dominique, a historian, links on the radio the pursuit of personal happiness to the decline of a civilisation. Presented at the Directors' Fortnight in 1986, it was the first Canadian film nominated for the Oscar for best foreign film and exceeded a million admissions in France. A sequel, with the same characters grown older, came seventeen years later.
Who it is for
A little over an hour and a half, almost entirely dialogue, with no external action; the crudeness of the talk is constant, and that is the very subject.
Prizes and reception
International Critics' Prize at Cannes in 1986; the biggest success of Quebec cinema on its release.
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