Canadian Must-Sees: Le Déclin de l'empire Américain conquered Canada

Denys Arcand's chatty examination of a group of middle-aged intellectuals brought a hint of Woody Allen to the wilds of the Canadian film landscape, eclipsing linguistic politics with sex, and successfully reframing the next generation's existential crisis as more of a personal concern than a nationalist struggle LE DÉCLIN DE L’EMPIRE AMÉRICAIN (1986) 5/5 Directed by: Denys Arcand Starring: Dominique Michel, Dorothée Berryman, Louise Portal, Geneviève Rioux, Pierre Curzi, Rémy Girard, Yves Jacques, Gabriel Arcand. Running time: 101 minutes MPAA Rating; Restricted   A veritable classic, and the first film to truly establish Canada on the populist film map, Le déclin de l'empire américain is a satirical, and undeniably poignant, look at a group of self-absorbed University of Montreal professors who have analyzed their world and themselves into a state of emotional numbness. Over the course of the Oscar-nominated movie, which opens with one history professor ...