Starring: Remy Girard, Stephane Rousseau, Marie-Josee Croze, Marina Hands
Director: Denys Arcand
Category: IIB (French)
French-Canadian director Denys Arcand's Oscar-winning essay on mortality, friendship and all things 'human' plays like the second chapter to his breakthrough film The Decline of the American Empire (1986). But don't fear: you don't need to have enjoyed the first to be charmed by the second.
Remy (Remy Girard) is a man facing death - and his thoughts turn to his family, his friends, and the way he's lived his life. There's peace to be made with his son (Stephane Rousseau), and relationships to be rekindled.
Much of the action takes place around Remy's sick bed, where he muses on past conquests and the highs and lows of his life. While this is going on, his son - a millionaire now living in London - spreads his wealth around, bribing all and sundry, and doing everything in his power to ease his father's pain.