The Barbarian Invasions (Les Invasions barbares) (2003)
88%RT Audience Score: 88%
Awards & Nominations: Won 1 Oscar
50 wins & 38 nominations total
A moving and heart-felt film from director Denys Arcand
The Barbarian Invasions” is a film that’s like a rollercoaster ride of emotions. It’s got everything from heart-wrenching moments to laugh-out-loud humor. The film’s characters are so well-developed that you’ll feel like you know them personally by the end. And while some critics may find the film confusing or trite, I found it to be a refreshing take on family, friendship, and the meaning of life. So grab some popcorn, sit back, and enjoy the ride!
Production Company(ies)
Apple Corps Aimimage Productions, Diamond Docs
Distributor
Miramax Films
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Memphremagog Lake, Estrie, Québec, Canada
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for language, sexual dialogue and drug content
Year of Release
2004
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital Dolby SR
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Aspect ratio:2.35 : 1
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Runtime:1h 39m
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Language(s):French, English
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Country of origin:Canada, France
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Aug 30, 2003 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 13, 2004
Genre(s)
Comedy/Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Rémy Girard, Stéphane Rousseau, Marie-Josée Croze, Marina Hands, Dorothée Berryman, Johanne-Marie Tremblay, directed by Denys Arcand, written by Denys Arcand, Comedy, Drama, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Alexander Walker, Will Self, Ted Shen, Lisa Nesselson, Patrick Peters, Geoff Andrew, David Walsh, Felicia Feaster, Cole Smithey, Urban Cinefile Critics, MPAA rating R, cancer, family, socialism, philosophy, politics, sex, religion, Montreal, London, finance, socialism, Miramax Films, Denise Robert, Daniel Louis
Worldwide gross: $34,883,010
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $55,027,474
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,288
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 6,000,815
US/Canada gross: $8,544,975
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $13,479,582
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,530
US/Canada opening weekend: $461,363
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $727,794
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,317
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): CA$6,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Stéphane Rousseau – Sébastien
Marie-Josée Croze – Nathalie
Marina Hands – Gaelle
Dorothée Berryman – Louise
Johanne-Marie Tremblay – Sister Constance Lazure
Denys Arcand – Director, Writer
Denise Robert – Producer
Daniel Louis – Producer
Director(s)
Denys Arcand
Writer(s)
Denys Arcand
Producer(s)
Denise Robert, Daniel Louis
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Won 1 Oscar
50 wins & 38 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Best Foreign Language Film of the Year Winners, Oscar Nominees, Oscar Winners
All Critics (134) | Top Critics (46) | Fresh (109) | Rotten (25)
It is a beauty. It blitzes all the phoniness, pretentiousness and political correctness around today, savages icons of popular and national culture, gives the finger to religious untouchables like Mother Theresa, and brought the house down.
January 10, 2018
Alexander Walker
London Evening Standard
TOP CRITIC
Arcand’s own script is delightfully fluid, his direction poised.
January 9, 2018
Will Self
London Evening Standard
TOP CRITIC
Despite an uneven cast, Arcand finds a tonal balance between sentimental and cynical that keeps the conversations real and heart wrenching.
March 23, 2010
Ted Shen
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
A full-bodied, funny and gloriously unpretentious ode to family, friendship and the meaning of life.
August 7, 2008
Lisa Nesselson
Variety
TOP CRITIC
So many fascinating ideas are raised here that Arcand’s decision to explore them within the context of a self-satisfied soap is disappointing.
April 1, 2006 | Rating: 3/5
Patrick Peters
Empire Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Both the comedy and the weepy moments tend towards the trite, but the film is directed and performed with such brio and manipulative skill that one eventually succumbs to its somewhat dubious charms.
January 26, 2006
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
The film is deeply eclectic and confused, the characters largely unreal and caricatured. Arcand has the unfortunate inclination to be paradoxical rather than penetrating.
February 16, 2021
David Walsh
World Socialist Web Site
[A] subtle and scrupulously intelligent film.
January 30, 2020
Felicia Feaster
Creative Loafing
“The Barbarian Invasions” is an intriguing meditation on the inevitable fall of ideologies under the pressure of nature’s laws.
May 4, 2009 | Rating: B
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com
Humour, whether darkly observant or skilfully witty, twines through the film like a confidently creeping ivy, growing out of the characters quite naturally.
October 18, 2008
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile
The film may be more of a sad commentary on the human condition than traditionally sad in the manner Arcand intended.
August 7, 2008 | Rating: 3/5
Mark Halverson
Sacramento News & Review
The film’s emotional ending is deeply felt and powerful, examining the pain and the humor of life without pathos or melodrama. As such, the film resonates and lingers.
November 18, 2005 | Rating: A
Christopher Smith
Bangor Daily News (Maine)…
Plot
In this belated sequel to ‘The Decline of the American Empire’, 50-something Montreal college professor Remy learns that he is dying of liver cancer. He decides to make amends to his family and friends before he dies. He first approaches his ex-wife Louise, who asks their estranged son Sebastian, a successful businessman living in London, to come home. Sebastian makes the impossible happen, using his contacts and disrupting the entire Canadian system in every way possible to help his father fight his terminal illness to the bitter end, while he tries to reunite his former friends, Pierre, Alain, Dominique, Diane, and Claude to see their old friend before he passes on.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Nothing to add here about The Barbarian Invasions.
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