MovieChat Forums > Les invasions barbares (2004) Discussion > why this movie named barbares invasions?

why this movie named barbares invasions?


why???

reply

[deleted]

The precedent film was called "the decline of the American Empire"; this movie would portray another step towards its destruction. I think it also refers to Remy's personal situation.

reply

I think the title "Barbarian Invasions" definatly has a couple of meanings. You might be right here, but what I thought at first was the invasion of cancer on the body.

Also the invasion of capitalism and the allmighty dollar. How many times did Remy's son pay people off, or use the power of the dollar to get his way?

reply

[deleted]

[deleted]

hahhahhhahahaaahhhahahhahaha. That was funny. hahhahh. Great. So many human beings. HHHahahahhh. Brilliant!

reply

Furthermore the senseless philistines who now dominate western society have invaded his sumptuous idea of the world

hence he says his son is the prince of darkness - a successful financier and capitalist, the very epitome of what the 'barbarians' idolise and he despises

reply

yeah there's no clear good or bad side in this movie, one side barbarian, one not.

The so-called barbarians are everywhere, and not who you would always think. The terrorists are barbarian, Remy's son is a barbarian, etc.

Capitalism AND religious fundamentalism are both barbarians.

reply

Actually, when Remy call the 9/11 attackers barbarians he's being sarcastic. 9/11 was the first attack to civilians in their own land, after so many wars the US has been involved in outside their territory, after invading so many countries and killing so many civilians. Americans dare to call others barbarians as if they were innocent little girls....

I believe the title is due to that idea, but it referrers to the relationship of Remy and his son. He despises all his son represents, just a money-making machine. However, during the movie we learn--and so does Remy--that his so-called "barbarian" son has a deep heart; thus, the term barbarian becomes more relative to us.

reply

While I agree with you that REMY would be sarcastic in calling hte 9/11 attackers barbarians, i don't think he is the one htat called them that. At the very least he wasn't the FIRST.

It was the young historian from the first movie on TV that first called them barbarians.

reply

[deleted]

Barbarian invasions:

1) The 9/11 attacks--terrorists are barbarians attacking American empire
2) The invasion of cancer of the body
3) The decline of intellectual appreciation in modern times and the embracing of capitalism and greed (the son is "the prince")
4) The "invasion" of Remy's friends and family--by many standards they have lived "barbarous" lives of promiscuity and relative obscurity.
5) The tragedies of history and attacks on the virtues of humankind (i.e. the fall of the roman empire, the halocaust....)

I agree that the key is the father/son relationship. I think each sees the other as a "barbarian"--In his son's eyes, Remy is coarse and disgusting; in Remy's eyes, his son is cold and lifeless.

I also loved the story about the junkie and the renewal that her character brings to the movie....

reply

[deleted]

You're right Wittt, very good and exact interpretation.

reply

Because of this is a sequel to the movie "The decline of the American Empire"

CF

reply

Other "invasions" in the movie are the unstoppable flow of drugs into the country, the onset of old age, doubts and disillusion encroaching on the previously rather smug worldviews of the characters. And perhaps also the startlingly sudden turning away from religion of Canadians, which Arcand says is something that really happened, and has never been adequately explained or even studied.

Of course "barbarian" is used ironically throughout. Historians always take the broader view, or at least they should.

I thought one of the most interesting points in the movie was where the son's fiancee and the priest are discussing the religious artifacts. She (the capitalist art dealer) is discussing their spritual value, while he (the supposed spiritual guide) only measures their worth in monetary terms. Very wry.


"I don’t like the term torture. I prefer to call it nastiness."

Donald Rumsfeld

reply

Cancer, terrorists...those are the barbarians invasions.

Huh,huh,why is Steven kissing Jackie...? HE'S DEAD!!
-Michael Kelso

reply

[deleted]

*** Some Spoilers ***

I watched this movie for the first time last night and thought it was a sort of absurdist comedy. The title I think has several meanings. First there is the depiction of the attacks of September eleventh. There is Remy's declaration that the world has always been bloody. Remy's cancer can implicitly be seen as an invasion. The police detective when talking to Sebastien outside the drug dealer's says he could arrest everyone but then new drug dealers would arrive. He calls it an invasion.

I think basically the film is about affirming your life by coming to grips with death and the absurd nature of the world. Remy exclaims his need to search for meaning. He hides his pain through heroin addiction. Indirectly, the audience is told that religion is worthless in such matters (the scene with Sebastian's fiancee, the priest, the antique relics), that not even sex suffises to dull the pain (the "Kiss of Death" and the Prime Minister), but it's the best prescription. It all fades.

Most telling is the scene between Nathalie and Remy, where Remy says to her your outlook is such becuase you are young. He says his outlook is different because he is on his way out.

Ultimately I guess Arcand is saying Death is the barbarian invasion that changes your outlook.

... Good story.

reply

Histoire(History) of human kind is all about invasions of barbarians.

reply