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Movie Overview
Cast
Remy Girard
Stephane Rousseau
Marie-Josee Croze
Director
Denys Arcand
MPAA Rating
R - language, sexual dialogue, and drug content
The Barbarian Invasions (2003)
REVIEWS
NEWS
INTERVIEWS
OTHER
(1 - 35) of 35
OFCS Rating: 76% Fresh
Page
1
"Its vicious satire and ambivalent final images leave a bitter aftertaste to ensure that its message of cautious optimism, though sweet, never becomes too cloying. "
Movie Gazette
Anton Bitel
2.5/4
"Stilted yet emotionally successful"
Film Freak Central
Bill Chambers
3/4
"Taking themes and ideas from Kurosawa's
Ikuru
and Kasdan's
The Big Chill
(to name a few), director Denys Arcand still manages to make this film his own."
Movie Boeuf
David N. Butterworth
3/4
"Arcand does a fantastic job of establishing these folks to the point where we really feel like we know them..."
Reel Film Reviews
David Nusair
C-
"I think before this filmmaker casts his barbarian stones, he should look at himself."
Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Dennis Schwartz
1/4
"Privileged audiences that swooned for
Decline of the American Empire
should expect more of the same oh-so-witty jibber-jabber and specious political “noise” exchanged between Arcand’s motley intellectuals."
Slant Magazine
Ed Gonzalez
A
"A film with a sense of joy and wonder as it celebrates our existence, while reminding us of some of the human traits… which keep us from enjoying life as much as we should."
FilmJerk.com
Edward Havens
"Es con extraordinaria sutileza que el canadiense Denys Arcand nos va metiendo en -y haciendo parte de- los últimos días del protagonista de esta película."
Uruguay Total
Enrique Buchichio
A-
""The history of mankind is a history of horrors," says Remy in one of his pontificating moods. So, we gather, is the history of this family."
Film Blather
Eugene Novikov
4/4
"La dirección es excelente y logra convertir una historia de apariencia triste en una exaltación de las conexiones humanas."
Doncinema.com
Flavio J. Arosemena
C
"Visually 'The Barbarian Invasions' has a nice surface, but the more one listens to it the more ephemeral and inconsequential it becomes."
One Guy's Opinion
Frank Swietek
"A bracing Canadian comedy about all those bothersome forces that unsettle our lives along with those surprising blessings which open our hearts unexpectedly."
Spirituality and Practice
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
A
"One feels awestruck by Arcand's accomplishment: starkly aware of life's beauty, its fragility, and the undeniable truth that friends, lovers, and family are what makes us who we are."
Mixed Reviews
Gabriel Shanks
3.5/4
"In the end, our tears are because we identify with these characters, not because the script has inelegantly manipulated our emotions."
ReelViews
James Berardinelli
1/5
"...jerkily paced, dramatically obvious, and seems penned by a self-serious 16-year-old"
Los Angeles Alternative
Jay Antani
6/10
"[I] felt it was trying to do too much with what looked increasingly like a fantasy premise."
Window to the Movies
Jeffrey Chen
B
"represents an artistic ideal of how we'd all like to end things"
Old School Reviews
John A. Nesbit
8/10
"The occasion is death, but the movie is a joyous celebration of life."
DVDTown.com
John J. Puccio
"Arcand's dialogue reverberates with wit and reflection, and is perfectly deployed by an ensemble that feels more like a family than the results of a casting call."
Light Views
John Larsen
4/10
"The only thing that separates
Invasions
from vile tripe like
Stepmom
and
Sweet November
is the language its mawkish characters spew."
Planet Sick-Boy
Jon Popick
2.5/5
"And underwhelming is any film that uses footage of the attack on the World Trade Center for one of its few emotional jolts."
Film-Forward.com
Kent Turner
3.5/4
"Life, liberty, and the pursuit of loose women; it’s wonderful to be dying in Montreal."
MovieCrypt.com
Kevin A. Ranson
3.5/4
"A welcomed return to form for Denys Arcand, his best film in more than a decade."
Montreal Film Journal
Kevin N. Laforest
B
"a sentimental homage to a big, broad life that rarely turns mawkish"
Reeling Reviews
Laura Clifford
3/4
"In spite of their differences, father and son finally become close"
Movie Habit
Marty Mapes
5/5
"Um daqueles raros exemplares que não alimentam apenas a mente, mas também o coração."
Cinema em Cena
Pablo Villaca
4/5
"Besides being a witty look at life, death and relationships, this is also a startlingly insightful examination of civilisation."
Shadows on the Wall
Rich Cline
A
"Beautifully-written followup to writer-director Denys Arcand's earlier film, “The Decline of the American Empire.” It offers insight into life, death and relationships."
Laramie Movie Scope
Robert Roten
B-
"There are some pluses to
Barbarian Invasion,
... with a gruffly touching performance as the family patriarch by Remy Girard"
Reeling Reviews
Robin Clifford
"French-Canadian director Denys Arcand revisits the aging intellectuals from
The Decline of the American Empire
-- and they might be interesting, if they'd ever shut up."
Salon.com
Stephanie Zacharek
3/4
"A poignant and thoughtful depiction of the need for forgiveness and reconciliation."
Reel.com
Timothy Knight
3.5/4
"Arcand gives us a wonderful portrait of real people forced to reconcile their pasts against a certain future and rejoicing in what once was and can continue to be... "
Oscar Guy
Wesley Lovell
"Click here to see review"
Wolf Entertainment Guide
William Wolf
9/10
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www.susangranger.com
Susan Granger
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In the Dark
Jonathan F. Richards
(1 - 35) of 35
OFCS Rating: 76% Fresh
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