Decline of the American Empire
Decline of the American Empire, The (Le déclin de l'empire américain)
The Decline of the American Empire depicts four history professors, a wife, and two graduate students associated with the University of Montréal gathered for a night and morning at a countryside house beside Lake Memphremagog in Québec's Eastern Townships. In the preparatory scenes the men cook dinner while the women work out at a gym. Then they all gather to eat and talk. After-dinner revelations of adultery briefly disrupt the party but, by the next morning, the group appear rather as they were at the beginning.
Although written, directed and widely received as a very funny erotic comedy,The Decline is also a film with a thesis. Denys ARCAND signals his intention with a declarative prelude. A senior historian, Dominique (Dominique Michel), is interviewed for Radio-Canada and explains that when a preoccupation with personal happiness pervades a civilization, it is a symptom of its decline, whether it is Rome, the ancien régime of 18th-century France, or now "the American Empire." What follows is a comic depiction of such preoccupations among these elite academics, and The Decline is a sharp, satirical social criticism. It has been seen as a reflection on the social and political aftermath of the failure of the 1980 Québec referendum and of René Lévesque's leadership of the Parti Québécois. (Arcand previously made a documentary on the subject, Le Confort et l'indifférence, 1981).
The Decline was a great popular and critical success. Prizes include the Directors' Fortnight prize at Cannes, 9 Genie Awards, and an Academy Award nomination for best foreign-language film. Its success in the USA at the time was unprecedented at a time when French-language films in American cinemas were extremely rare. Arcand was later contracted to develop a Hollywood remake, never realized. He followed The Decline with the similarly successful JESUS OF MONTREAL /Jésus de Montréal in 1989.
See also Canadian FEATURE FILM.
Arcand, Denys
Denys Arcand began as a documentary filmmaker and later moved to fiction. His films are among the most highly praised by all Canadian filmmakers (photo by Daniel Dutka).
Decline of the American Empire
Still from Denys Arcand's award-winning film "The Decline of the American Empire" (courtesy Library and Archives Canada/MISA/15419).
Author BART TESTA
Suggested Reading
André Loiselle and Brian McIlroy, Auteur/provocateur: The Films of Denys Arcand (1995).
Links to Other Sites
FILM; Where Films Made In English Can Seem A Cultural Betrayal
This article focuses on Quebecois filmmakers who produce films in English and the impact of these productions on Québec culture. From the New York Times.
The Toronto Maple Leafs’ victory in the 1967 Stanley Cup was a singular event. Who would have predicted that it would not happen again?
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