Stars: Dominique Michel, Louise Portal, Dorothee Berryman, Pierre Curzi, Remy Girard

Director: Denys Arcand

Summary: A tale of modern sexual manners, covering everything from seduction to infidelity, fantasy to perversion. Winner of the Cannes Film Festival Critics Award and Academy Award nominated.

Acclaimed Canadian director Denys Arcand's witty comedy focuses on the marriages and affairs of eight intellectual friends. The group has plans to gather at a secluded house for dinner. While the four men prepare the food and reflect on their promiscuity, the four women discuss their own affairs at a nearby gym. At the dinner table, conflicts soon arise when Dominique, who teaches history at the local university, reveals that she herself has had affairs with two of the men there--one of whom is married to Louise, also present. The entire evening turns into a disaster, with everyone at each other's throats. This Oscar-nominated Canadian film explores the subjects of marriage, infidelity and sex when a group of friendly intellectuals get together for a weekend in the country.

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You've never seen a sex comedy quite like The Decline of the American Empire. That's because there's no sex in this comedy--just a lot of entertaining talk about it (and a few discreet flashbacks). The speakers are eight Montreal academics. For most of the film, the men--Rémy (Rémy Girard), Claude (Yves Jacques), Pierre (Pierre Curzi), and Alain (Daniel Brière)--fix dinner while talking about sex. The women--Dominique (Dominique Michel), Louise (Dorothée Berryman), Diane (Louise Portal), and Danielle (Geneviève Rioux)--work out while talking about sex. That evening, they all gather for dinner... and talk about sex. The Decline of the American Empiremade the reputation of writer-director Denys Arcand, but his greatest success would arrive 17 years later with The Barbarian Invasions. In that 2003 Oscar-winner, Arcand revisits the lovably loquacious characters from the first film, all of whom are older, wiser--and just as obsessed with sex. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Aspect Ratio:	Anamorphic Wide Screen
Main Language:	French
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Theatrical Trailer, Cast And Crew Filmographies
Subtitles:	English
Year:	1986
Release Date:	February 23, 2004
Runtime:	97 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	A R T 084 D V D
Keywords:	American, Subtitled, Comedy, General, Decline, Empire, Wide, Screen, French, Americain, Declin, L'empire
Genre:	Comedy