La chute de l'empire américain

"The fall of the American empire" begins just like "No country for old men" (2007, Joel & Ethan Coen), a casual passer by takes possession of the loot of a crime that has horribly gone wrong.

The rest of the film however is quite different. A team consisting of a nerd (Pierre Paul Daoust played by Alexandre Landry), a prostitute (Camille Lafontaine played by Maripier Morin) and an ex criminal (Sylvain Bigras played by Rémy Girard) set up an ingenious money laundring scheme to help the homeless people of Montreal.

The nerd is not a "computer nerd" but a "philosophy nerd". At the start of the film he has an awkward conversation with his girl friend, framing Pierre Paul as rather autistic. His relatively smooth interaction with homeless people later in the movie is somewhat at odds with this first impression.

"The fall of the American empire" is obviously not realistic, and that is no problem. The film is a sort of modern Robin Hood and also a "Pretty woman" (1990, Garry Marshall) in reverse, although I am still puzzling what "in reverse" really means. Does it mean that in this case the woman (Camille) is transforming the man (Pierre Paul) and making him less naive? Or does it mean that the man still is transforming the woman but introduces her from the high society (Camille is a very expensive call girl before she meets Pierre Paul) to the low society in stead of the other way round?

The weak spot of the film is its social critism. It is clear that the director sympathizes with the homeless and that they are the victims of capitalist society. But the question is who is the culprit? In recent films of Ken Loach (of the same generation as Denys Arcand) this question is clearly answered. In "I Daniel Blake" (2016) it is the government bureacracy and in "Sorry we missed you" (2019) it is the principal of the self employed person. In "The fall of the American empire" it seems to be the capital market in general, but this is too vague and too impersonal. When you want to tell a story about the perversions of the capital market "The big short" (2015, Adam McKay) does a better job.

I loved this story of a way over-educated nerd who's filled with Marxist claptrap making a conscious decision to steal bagfuls of cash. Typical of Arcand, the film is very talky, but in a dry and deadpan way that is quite amusing. It's a funny version of Dostoevsky by way of Godard and Woody Allen.

If you liked what Denys Arcand did before you should like this movie. So first of all, I'm not a fan of the title, because it might hint that's it's a sequel to the "Déclin" which it is not. (Although Girard and Curzie play in both movies, but it's not the same characters.) They should have kept the original title "Triumph of Money". You will find in this movie very good dialogues, good action and a feel good sentiment at the end. There is a lot of cameos from various Quebec actors. Landry delivers a strong performance, his character, a very intelligent but naive man who seems to despise the world but who's always trying to help the poor and the disenfranchised. Morin is surprisingly good especially since I think it's her first role (and she's wonderfully pretty). Girard, who plays a biker that just got out of jail, is good as usual, (although I felt that some lines could have been from "Les Bougons") and of course I loved Curzie who's playing a crooked investment advisor. Personally, I think it might be my favorite Arcand so far. "Le Déclin" was funnier though. I strongly recommend this movie!

What a director Denys Arcand is - all the way from "Jesus of Montreal" to this superb classic. It is truly a magnificent plot that manages to have its cake and eat it too in that we are dealing with more or less petty crime in the context of larger social crimes. To me the lead roles come off so well because of fine performances - there's a humanity here at work that truly appeals to me. Alexandre Landry as a naive philosophical type who hasn't really got a clue but is kind-hearted and Maripier Morin as sex worker as clever as they come drew me in deeply. The highlight the social context which Arcand is at pains to adumbrate without it overwhelming the story's unfolding into something one might describe as worthwhile and meaningful for an audience whilst also being suspensful. Montreal and Quebec are served well by such productions.

Funny, sarcastic and ... that's rare!... benevolent. To be seen only with the adorable accent of Quebec.