The Decline of the American Empire

"A spontaneously funny sex comedy!"

1986 1h 41m FR

👍

6.7

SOLID

★6.7TMDB · 183

ComedyDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Four very different Montreal university teachers gather at a rambling country house to prepare a dinner. Remy (married), Claude (a homosexual), Pierre (involved with a girlfriend) and Alain (a bachelor) discuss sex, the female body and their affairs with them. Meanwhile, their four female guests, Louise (Remy's wife of 15 years), Dominique (a spinster), Diane (a divorcée) and Danielle (Pierre's girlfriend) are spending the time at a downtown health gym. They also discuss sex, the female body and, naturally, men. Later in the evening, they finally meet at the country house and have dinner. A ninth guest, named Mario, who used to know Diane, drops in on the group for some talk and has a surprise of his own.

“A spontaneously funny sex comedy!”

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Cast

Dominique Michel
Dominique
Dorothée Berryman
Louise
Louise Portal
Diane
Pierre Curzi
Pierre
Rémy Girard
Rémy
Yves Jacques
Claude
Geneviève Rioux
Danielle
Daniel Brière
Alain

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Denys Arcand
Writers: Denys Arcand, Gabriel Arcand, Jean-Claude Lauzon
Languages: English, French
Countries: Canada

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $1.8M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $30M — a 16.7× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

40 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, French.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "The Decline of the American Empire Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Denys Arcand, shot by Guy Dufaux. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by François Dompierre. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Monique Fortier shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Denys Arcand directs. Guy Dufaux behind the camera. François Dompierre scores. Monique Fortier cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in Canada. Dialogue in English, French.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $1.8M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Grossed $30M — a 16.7× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
340 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
4Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, French.
5Part of the "The Decline of the American Empire Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
6Directed by Denys Arcand, shot by Guy Dufaux. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by François Dompierre. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Monique Fortier shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Dominique Michel and Dorothée Berryman and Louise Portal carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "A spontaneously funny sex comedy!".
11IMDB entry: tt0090985 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.