Generationen der blev væk
It took me
quite a while to wrap my head around “Le Déclin de l'empire Américain”. Not
that I did not understand what was happening and I did find it funny, but the
big why was eluding me. I may have come closer, but it is just possible it is
one of those movies you respond to without knowing exactly why.
On a summer
day outside Montreal, we are following two groups. The men, Remy (Rémy Girard),
Pierre (Pierre Curzi), Claude (Yves Jacques) and Alain (Daniel Brière) are
preparing a dinner party at the home of Remy while the women, Dominique (Dominique
Michel), Louise (Dorothée Berryman), Diane (Louise Portal) and Danielle (Geneviève
Rioux) are at the gym.
All eight
are associated with the university, mostly on the faculty and all of them
consider each other friends. With two exceptions, they are rapidly approaching
middle age.
For the bulk
of the movie, we listen to the conversations of the two groups, which in both cases
revolves around a single topic: Sex. Most of them seem happy to share their
philandering which covers every variation under the sun. Remy and Pierre stand
out for having an entire industry of affairs, including within the friend group,
with the only difference that Remy is married (to Louise).
As the
stories are told, we see them in flashbacks and it is clear that many of the
women’s stories feature Remy, though nobody tell Louise. She knows he has
something going when he is travelling, but is certain she is enough for him when
he is in town. That does not prevent her from having affairs though.
Claude is
homosexual, but not particularly different and Danielle actually work as a
prostitute next to her history studies.
For the
last third of the movie the two groups meet for a dinner party and a few
revelations.
The thing
that strikes me with this movie is the gap between talk and reality. All their
talk is of fantastic sex and adventurous escapades, yet when we see what
actually happened it is usually less than fantastic and Remy, the usual male
act, is rather pathetic and hardly a Don Juan. In fact, the sex and affairs
seem more out of boredom than anything else.
Secondly,
they all talk about sex and affairs as very liberated people. As if everything
is fine. Yet, when the price comes, when the infidelity is revealed or in
Claude’s case, a mysterious sickness, the pain and the regrets are the same as
any other person. Pierre is happy screwing around left and right but he knows
he will never get any children. The carelessness is not at all as careless as
they want to make it seem.
Maybe the
hypocrisy is what makes the movie funny or maybe it is that schadenfreude that
these privileged people with their high ideals and liberated talk are as vain,
stupid and conventional as the rest of us.
For me,
that last part when they have to face up to reality was the bast part and it
did make me laugh quite a bit. As comedies go, this is more high-brow than the
common fare and requires more of the viewer. Especially, it is important to
follow the dialogue. But it is a rewarding movie to watch, and I understand it
spawned a few sequels, whom I only know by title, but will be inclined to
watch.
I also was
a bit envious of the meal they were having. That dish looked good.
