ARCAND LAUGHS IN THE DARK
New film flirts with optimism
Inspired by the notorious 2010 Flawnego shooting, Oscar-winning Québécois director Denys Arcand’s latest doesn’t skimp on darkness. It’s also very funny and suggests Arcand isn’t a chronic pessimist after all
Denys Arcand’s new film, his best since the Oscar winner Les invasions barbares 15 years ago, was inspired by a reckless shooting in 2010 in an Old Montreal boutique that left two men dead. But La chute de l’empire américain (The Fall of the American Empire) is about much more than a double murder. Like the best Arcand films — including Le Déclin de l’empire américain, Jésus de Montréal and Les invasions barbares — this is a thoughtful yet highly entertaining piece that touches on all sorts of big philosophical questions, not just the destruction of the American empire by a certain much-hated president. It also focuses on our obsession with money and how whitecollar criminals launder money via complicated offshore financial shenanigans. In fact, it was originally titled Le triomphe de l’argent (The Triumph of Money). And it is not an account of the shooting at the Flawnego boutique in 2010, when two gunmen walked in and opened fire. Over 60 shots were fired in a matter of seconds. In addition to the fatalities, two other men were seriously injured. “No, no, no, it’s not the same story at all,” Arcand said in a recent interview at Place des Arts, just hours before the film’s local première. “The Flawnego was Italians trying to kill a guy who (they believed) had participated in the murder of (Nick Rizzuto Jr., who was shot dead on Upper Lachine Rd. in December 2009). They were after him. But it was just the event itself happening at noon on St-Jacques St. It was so crazy. You’d think that these people would operate at night instead of in the middle of traffic on a weekday. It’s unreal. So I was just interested by that. Then it evolved into something else.” In La chute de l’empire américain, which opened across Quebec Thursday night in French only, a delivery driver (played by Alexandre Landry) arrives at a boutique just as a shootout is ending. One man limps off and everyone else there is dead. Pierre-Paul, the 36-year-old driver, who has a PhD in philosophy, discovers two sports bags full of millions of dollars in cash, and he grabs the loot. Unsurprisingly, bad things start happening. The cast
It’s possible that I’m getting softer as I’m getting older. That’s one possibility. But I was never as pessimistic as people thought I was.
of characters who are there when those things happen to Pierre-Paul include mobster Sylvain (the Brain) Bigras (Rémy Girard), prostitute with a heart of gold Aspasie/Camille (Maripier Morin), money-laundering scoundrel Wilbrod Taschereau (Pierre Curzi) and a pair of homicide detectives (Louis Morissette and Maxim Roy). It’s very funny, never dull, and has quite a bit to say about the mucked-up world we live in. Oh, and it includes an idea for how to funnel money out of the country that is quite inventive. But the real revelation is that this remarkable film (which is not a real sequel to Le Déclin de l’empire américain, despite the title) ends with an almost optimistic vision of humanity. This from a filmmaker who has been considered by many to be the ultimate pessimist — maybe even a nihilist and misanthrope. Arcand laughed when told this was a common description of him before this film. “'Dystopian’ is the exact word,” he said. “It’s possible that I’m getting softer as I’m getting older,” said the filmmaker, who turned 77 on Monday. “That’s one possibility. But I was never as pessimistic as people thought I was. “I don’t generally agree with critics. I have a problem (with critics), like most filmmakers. But there is a fabulous review of Le Déclin de l’empire américain written in Toronto by Robert Fulford — under the name Marshall Delaney, because he writes under a pseudonym when writing about movies, because I think he thinks movies are beneath him or something. This is the best review I’ve read of this film. He says: 'It’s all about intellectuals and they’re very pessimistic. They’re saying that the world is going to hell and love doesn’t exist anymore.' All of this is very depressing. But then (Fulford points out that) the camera is saying the exact opposite. The camera is saying: 'Fall on Lake Memphremagog is absolutely gorgeous, and the colour of the wine in the glass is actually wonderful. And these people share a friendship that is unique.' So it’s not a pessimistic film at all. What they’re saying is pessimistic. But if you look at the whole film and the cinematographic language behind it, it contradicts what the characters are actually saying.” So perhaps Arcand is actually a closet optimist. “It’s more complicated than what you might think,” he replied.