Remy at first resists his son's help. "I voted for Medicare, and I'll accept the consequences," he says. But the younger man's money talks, and it speaks the language of filial love. Sebastien seeks out Nathalie (Marie-Jose Croze), a heroin addict whose mother, Diane (Louise Portal), is one of Remy's former lovers, and makes a deal with her. He will pay to support her habit if she will buy heroin for Remy, who needs the drug to alleviate his pain.
Arcand is at heart a populist filmmaker, but his brains are at least as well developed as his heart. The Barbarian Invasions has had enormous success at the Canadian box office, in both English and French-speaking areas, and it is easy to see why. Its humor is broad and its emotions large and accessible. But it is also, at the same time, a sophisticated and rigorous analysis of recent history, in Quebec and beyond. It is an elegy, a seminar and a long, sloppy party, full of food, wine, maudlin moments and endless conversation. Civilization may be declining gradually all around them, but they don't mind. They're in no hurry.
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