Denys Arcand
1941 (83 года)"Jesus of Montreal" delved into the lives of Montreal artists portraying biblical figures, blending day-to-day struggles with religious performances. Arcand's film "Stardom" satirized fame, closing Cannes 2000 and opening TIFF, a rare honour for Canadian cinema. "The Barbarian Invasions," a sequel to his earlier work, earned Arcand an Oscar, Cannes prizes, French Cesars, and Quebec Jutra awards, solidifying his cinematic legacy.
Escher's Infinite Perspective
Jean Bergeron
Denys Arcand, Joost Batenburg
M.C. Escher is among the most intriguing of artists. In 1956 he challenged the laws of perspective with his graphic Print Gallery and his uncompleted master-piece quickly became the most puzzling enigma of modern art. Fifty years later, can mathematician Hendrik Lenstra complete it? Should he?
Escher's Infinite Perspective
Le confort et l'indifférence
Denys Arcand
Jean-Pierre Ronfard, Pierre Elliott Trudeau
Made shortly after the referendum on Quebec's independence was held, this documentary illustrates what the politicians' promises were and how the population did not really care nor truly understand what was really at stake, even though just about everyone had an opinion on the subject.
Comfort and Indifference
Québec : Duplessis et après...
Denys Arcand
This film establishes a parallel between the 1970 electoral campaign in Québec and the 1936 campaign dominated by Maurice Duplessis. It shows the hope but also the uncertainty that existed in 1970. Had the Quiet Revolution really changed things in Québec? Was it possible that a new leader would emerge on the political scene? (NFB.ca)
Québec: Duplessis and After ...
The Barbarian Invasions
Denys Arcand
Rémy Girard, Stéphane Rousseau
In this belated sequel to 'The Decline of the American Empire', middle-aged Montreal college professor, Remy, learns that he is dying of liver cancer. His ex-wife, Louise, 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 Canadian healthcare system in every way possible to help his father fight his terminal illness to the bitter end, while reuniting some of Remy's old friends, including Pierre, Alain, Dominique, Diane, and Claude, who return to see their friend before he passes on.
The Barbarian Invasions
Jesus of Montreal
Denys Arcand
Lothaire Bluteau, Catherine Wilkening
A group of actors putting on an interpretive Passion Play in Montreal begin to experience a meshing of their characters and their private lives as the production takes form against the growing opposition of the Catholic church.
Jesus of Montreal
Night Zoo
Jean-Claude Lauzon
Gilles Maheu, Roger Le Bel
Marcel, recently released from prison, attempt to rebuild his relationship with his girlfriend Julie (now a prostitute) and especially his father Albert (who thinks he's been away on a long trip abroad), while being pursued by two corrupt cops (one of whom bears a longstanding grudge against him) for drug money he's alleged to possess.
Night Zoo
The Decline of the American Empire
Denys Arcand
Dominique Michel, Dorothée Berryman
Four very different Montreal university teachers gather at a rambling country house to prepare a dinner. Remy (married), Claude (a homosexual), Pierre (involved with a girlfriend) and Alain (a bachelor) discuss sex, the female body and their affairs with them. Meanwhile, their four female guests, Louise (Remy's wife of 15 years), Dominique (a spinster), Diane (a divorcée) and Danielle (Pierre's girlfriend) are spending the time at a downtown health gym. They also discuss sex, the female body and, naturally, men. Later in the evening, they finally meet at the country house and have dinner. A ninth guest, named Mario, who used to know Diane, drops in on the group for some talk and has a surprise of his own.
The Decline of the American Empire
Joyeux Calvaire
Denys Arcand
Lorne Brass, Gaston Lepage
Marcel and Joseph are tireless walkers. Their itinerary is an invitation to discover improbable places and fascinating people. Everlastingly looking for Stanley, Marcel’s only friend, they meet an unlikely crowd of extravagant characters. Each has a story to tell, his hope to share.
Poverty and Other Delights
Samuel de Champlain: Québec 1603
Denys Arcand
Footage of Québec City locations and the artwork of well-known Quebec animator Frédéric Back are used to tell the tale of Champlain’s life in New France – from his first explorations and settlement to his death in 1635.
Samuel de Champlain: Québec 1603
The Fall of the American Empire
Denys Arcand
Alexandre Landry, Maripier Morin
A shy and insecure delivery driver (Landry) arrives on the scene of a robbery-gone-wrong and picks up two bags of cash and hides them in his truck . He is interrogated by two tough police detectives and manages to evade suspicion but he is warned that whoever owns the money will be looking for it. Only the help of a prostitute and a former biker recently released from jail might get him out of trouble.
The Fall of the American Empire
Ville-Marie
Denys Arcand
Gilles Marsolais, Gisèle Trépanier
Today it is the city of Montreal, but 3 centuries ago the tiny band of missionary founders called it Ville-Marie, the holy city of Mary. This film goes back to its beginning and those who felt called to plant an oasis of Christianity in the North American wilderness. In an imaginative, at times almost surrealistic, way the film recalls the highborn company from France, and shows what survives of Ville-Marie in the Montreal of today.
Ville-Marie
Days of Darkness
Denys Arcand
Marc Labrèche, Sylvie Léonard
Jean-Marc is a man without qualities living in times that are out of joint. His wife and children ignore him; he's a mid-level government functionary in Montreal doing his job without care. He has an active imagination of sexual conquest, but his only real feelings come when he visits his aged mother, whose health is failing. When his wife leaves abruptly to work in Toronto, Jean-Marc sets out to reorder things with his daughters, his social life, and at work. In a world that at best is a farce, does he stand a chance?
Days of Darkness
