Film Review of Invasions barbares Les
Year: 2003 Reviewer: Chris Docker
It's difficult to get excited about this film from the trailer - believe me (or believe the awards heaped on it) - this is a brilliant film, one that could even change your outlook on life.
A dying man is have difficulty coming to terms with his approaching death, of being old and dying instead of young and licentious, of accepting his family who seem to go against all his learned principles, of balancing reminiscences against the inevitable finality of death.
Not very exciting stuff? Except it is. It is packed with wit, deep reflections on the meaning of life and how you live it, bombastic characters that have all the realism associated with French cinema at its best (it's a French Canadian production). It reflects on the current state of the world, on 9/11, on the contrast of worldly success vs intellectual achievement vs a woman's understanding. The different characters, and the sacrifices to their own egos which they bravely make, touch us because they reflect aspects of everyone's most private self.
If you only see one film of substance this year, make it The Barbarian Invasions.
Rating: 9/10
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