Sunday, April 24, 2005

Yesterday we went to the last foreign film of the season. We missed the last five or six for some reason or another. We usually never miss, but with the trips and holidays it just didn't work for us this year.
The film was The Barbarian Invasion which is a French film I didn't read up on before going. We had a discussion over dinner with G's mom and a friend of hers afterward. I guess it was supposed to be somewhat against America, but I thought it was negative on religion.
Basically this guy is dying of cancer and his son who hasn't had much to do with him decides to come and be with him when he dies. The son is a capitalist and doesn't have much time for things other than being on the phone making business deals. When it finally hits him that the end is near for his dad, he starts tracking down old friends of his fathers so he doesn't die alone. His ex wife is there also and they are on speaking terms even though they broke up over his affairs. The son pays off the hospital to get him a private room which is difficult since this takes place in Canada and with national health care you are lucky not to be stuck in a hallway. He pays off former students to visit and gets the addicted daughter of an ex lover of his father to get heroin for the pain.
Because this guy is a professor, the discussions are extremely liberal and he is obsessed with rulers that ended up killing millions of people.
In one scene, after the man has been moved to a cottage by the water to die with all of his friends, they are discussing bad historical decisions and the isms people follow. Along with many other things the election of Bush in America the first time is mentioned. (This caused lots of laughter in the audience.) The wine flows freely, as do the discussions and it turned out to be thought provoking. Two scenes stand out for me. When the wife of the son, who is an art dealer, goes to look at some religious statues that are in the basement of a church, the camera pans the beloved statues of the Catholic church and then the women as she says they are worthless. The other is footage of the second plane hitting the twin towers. It was close up and quite disturbing. One lady in the audience covered her eyes until it was over. American reviewers found the movie anti American. Of course as a conservative you would, but I thought it was very thought provoking.

It is very cold here and yesterday we had snow. I am very depressed about the weather. This isn't funny at the end of April. Are spring is nonexistent and summers are very short. Why would any sane person like living here???

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