The Decline of the American Empire
Pleasure can be a form of dissidence, as shown by this cycle, opening up this new year with a playful and impertinent philosophical tone. The modern heirs of Diogenes, the tramp Boudu and the punks of Not Dead dynamite the bourgeois order or the consumer society. Very Happy Alexander and The Big Lebowski make a few enemies by establishing the pleasures of laziness as an art of living. Children rebel against their school's authority figures in the libertarian Zero for Conduct, while Ferris Bueller prefers to play hooky to discover the world in a different way. In Hal Ashby's Harold and Maude, life becomes a marvelous game of defying convention and death, while Mr. Chance in Being There becomes a political oracle by simply explaining how to cultivate his garden. The final word goes to the decadent intellectuals of The Decline of the American Empire and their dizzying introspection on the exhausting quest for happiness.
In the countryside, Rémy, Pierre, Claude and Alain, professors at the Faculty of History, prepare a gourmet meal... and talk about women. In the city, Dominique, Louise, Diane and Danielle, friends or companions of these men, train in "aesthetic" bodybuilding... and talk about men.
Denys Arcand
Denys Arcand, born June 25, 1941 in Deschambault, Quebec, is a Quebec film director, screenwriter, actor and producer. A filmmaker whose style has varied greatly over the course of his career, he is best known internationally for his two major successes: The Decline of the American Empire and its sequel, 18 years later: The Barbarian Invasions. In the early 1960s, Denys Arcand studied history at the Université de Montréal. Among his professors were Maurice Séguin and Michel Brunet, founders, with Guy Frégault, of the Historical School of this university and thinkers of Quebec neo-nationalism.
