The Decline of the American Empire (Le Déclin de l'Empire Américain) poster & wallpaper
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Pierre Curzi, Rémy Girard, Yves Jacques, Daniel Brière, Dominique Michel ... see more see more... , Louise Portal , Dorothée Berryman , Gabriel Arcand , Geneviève Rioux , Ariane Frederique

A rousing "he said/she said" endeavor, The Decline of the American Empire begins by separating the boys from the girls. Preparing a gourmet dinner, four male intellectuals begin trading stories of the... read more read more...ir sexual experiences. At the same time, four well-read women, all working out in a gym, exchange their own tales from the love front. The film is set in the lofty circles of academia, a world well known to Canadian director Denys Arcand. The anecdotes related herein are based on actual events in the lives of Arcand's professorial friends. There's nothing bookish, however, about the subject matter of the stories themselves, which ranges from mild philandering to S & M. The Decline of the American Empire was the winner of eight Canadian Genie awards (that's the above-the-border equivalent of the Oscar), including Best Picture. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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79% liked it

6,011 ratings

Critics

85% liked it

13 critics

R, 1 hr. 42 min.

Directed by: Denys Arcand

Release Date: June 19, 1986

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DVD Release Date: October 5, 2004

Stats: 232 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (232)

  • gator681
    July 18, 2010
    gator681
    [font=Century Gothic][color=red]"The Decline of the American Empire" is a Canadian movie directed by Denys Arcand("Jesus of Montreal") about a group of friends who are all members of the intelligentsia in a university. In a gender role reversal, the men prepare the food for dinn... read moreer, while the women exercise in a gym. While all of this is going on, they discuss their sex lives in graphic detail. [/color][/font]
    [font=Century Gothic][color=red][/color][/font]
    [font=Century Gothic][color=red]So, while this is an extremely talky movie("Intellectuals like to talk."), [/color][/font][font=Century Gothic][color=#ff0000]"The Decline of the American Empire" is a warm and witty meditation on the pleasures of life - namely, sex, food and friends. [/color][/font]
    [font=Century Gothic][color=#ff0000][/color][/font]
    [font=Century Gothic][color=#ff0000]Two notes:[/color][/font]
    [font=Century Gothic][color=#ff0000][/color][/font]
    [font=Century Gothic][color=#ff0000]1. This movie was made in 1986, so it surprised me that there were references to AIDS. I know "An Early Frost" was on television the year before, but I don't think movies had really begun to consider AIDS until at least 1990.[/color][/font]
    [font=Century Gothic][color=#ff0000][/color][/font]
    [font=Century Gothic][color=#ff0000]2. "The Barbarian Invasions" is a sequel to "Decline of the American Empire" but I don't think it's necessary to see the earlier movie first even though there might be more emotional involvement in the characters when watching "Barbarian Invasions." I saw "Barbarian Invasions" when it was first released a year and a half ago, so I don't think it mattered that much to me but I spent a good deal of "Decline of the American Empire" thinking about how young the characters looked... [/color][/font]
  • fb1144932598
    July 18, 2010
    fb1144932598
    A sad little film about a group of University professors, their wives, and friends who espouse typical '80s views on sex and love. The men share several boasts about their sexual conquests and the women, in a separate venue, talk about their loves. They come together to share a m... read moreeal and in the course of conversation a pre-emptive strike is launched. Surprisingly little fallout ensues. The "R" rating must be for the dialog, casual drug use, and sexual situations, certainly not for the brief, partial nudity, although there was plenty of opportunity for more. An interesting character study with an adequate cast. Somewhat cliched story and less than demonstrative emotions. The title derives from an opening interview where a visiting author explains that empires fall when the pursuit of personal happiness replaces sacrifice for the common good as a societal virtue. This viewer supposes the rest of the film is proof of that premise. Good, but not great, by any means.
  • fb20312798
    October 15, 2010
    fb20312798
    Its like "The Big Chill" in many respects except its in French and the characters have far more interesting things to say. I think the observations on human sexuality made in the film are still pretty accurate, I wasn't a big fan of how they handled the gay character (but then it... read more was 1986, and for that time it was pretty progressive) but overall I still think it works and holds up remarkably well over 20 years later
  • thirdway821
    October 8, 2010
    thirdway821
    I happened to see this picture again on the CBC and it's a bit humourous and a bit depressing(a twist occurs during the last act of the picture when an individual shows up at the door). The eight intellectuals(four men, four women)gather at a private home and just love to talk ab... read moreout sex since sex to them is a game. I think the underline truth is they find no pleasure having it.

    One of my fav scenes in the picture is when the women wait at a gym where they use the swimming pool, the exercise machines and the sauna as settings to discuss the same things the men are talking about. Listening to their sexcapades, their vicious take on love and the way in which they all agree that brains come before bodies.

    Everything looks so perfect you'd think the characters in this film never have to work a day in their lives, but believe me these characters are on the verge of a head-on collision due to their promiscious sex talk. The only thing the eight intellectuals forgot to do(a wise decision) is to have sex with each other(sort of) as they all leave the house. I'm glad filmmaker Denys Arcand decided to end things on a more modest note.
  • alanjayh
    July 18, 2010
    alanjayh
    All talk and very little action! The topic is sex, but this group of intellectuals are more apt to be fooling themselves by sleeping with one another in secret. I got bored with the whole thing as it meanders to a somewhat vague ending.
  • zutron
    September 12, 2011
    zutron
    Bothersome, but then ultimately disturbing and revealing film about the battlefront of the sexes-- particularly in the post sexual revolution/early aids years. Really an eloquent time capsule of sexual thought during those years.
  • HuskersNC949597
    January 15, 2011
    HuskersNC949597
    I just didn't like these people very much, nor did I like disliking them, it was just a little unpleasant. Not all bad.

View All The Decline of the American Empire (Le Déclin de l'Empire Américain) Reviews

Critic Reviews

Nick Davis
July 10, 2011
Nick Davis, Nick's Flick Picks

What Arcand has devised is a kind of Nia Vardalos movie in tenured-faculty clothing: Our Big Fat Bourgeois Salon ... It trades only the crudest ironies and screenwriting mechanics. Full Review

Robert Roten
October 30, 2008
Robert Roten, Laramie Movie Scope

As a movie with a lot of clever talk about sex and love, this is pretty good. As a movie about the decline of the American empire it pales in comparison to the real thing. Full Review

Jay Antani
August 20, 2006
Jay Antani, Cinema Writer

instead of being wickedly funny, it's repellent before becoming a total snore Full Review

Emanuel Levy
June 14, 2005
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

Subtle and wittty in discussing sexual politics in the academic world, Denis Arcand's film deservedly won the Oscar for Foreign Film in 1986. Full Review

Christopher Null
October 10, 2004
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com

Give Empire credit for giving Woody Allen a run for his money in '86, but its force has all but vanished today. Full Review

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
August 26, 2004
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice

Asks all the right questions about the sexual revolution and makes some interesting connections between eros and middle age. Full Review

David Nusair
November 30, 2003
David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews

There's very little plot in Decline of the American Empire...but when the dialogue is this good and the characters this compelling, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Full Review

Pablo Villaca
November 7, 2003
Pablo Villaca, Cinema em Cena

Através de suas conversas casuais (embora com efeitos estudados), os personagens deste filme estabelecem um vivo retrato das relações humanas - especialmente do sexo, claro.

Ryan Cracknell
July 1, 2003
Ryan Cracknell, Movie Views

Arcand's message might not be the happy, happy, joy, joy we have come to expect from our movies but he does shed some truth, no matter how hard it might be to digest. Full Review

March 26, 2009
Variety

Click to read the article Full Review

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