The Fall of the American Empire – La chute de l’empire américain (2018)

Directed by: Denys Arcand | 127 minutes | crime, comedy | Actors: Alexandre Landry, Maripier Morin, Rémy Girard, Vincent Leclerc, Pierre Curzi, Catherine Paquin-Bechard, Rose-Marie Perreault, Florence Longpré, Gaston Lepage, Louis Morisette, Yan England, Benoît Brière, Patrick Abellard, Anoulith Sintharaphone, Éric Bruneau , Maxim Roy

‘The Fall of the American Empire’ (‘La chute de l’empire américain’) is the third part in a trilogy, but differs so much from the previous two films that the film can easily stand on its own. Part entertaining heist film, part sharp criticism of society, Oscar-winning director Denys Arcand (for ‘Les invasions barbares’, the second film in the trilogy) manages to make ‘The Fall of the American Empire’ a balanced whole.

The self-proclaimed hyper-intelligent Pierre-Paul Daoust (Alexandre Landry) makes no bones about it in the opening scene. His gift is his handicap, only stupid people can be happy and he is too intelligent to be successful. During his monologue he hardly pays attention to the reactions of his girlfriend, who on the other side of the table becomes more and more emotional and eventually ends the relationship. Not so surprising. We don’t really like Pierre-Paul yet, he initially reminds a bit of Mark Zuckerberg in ‘The Social Network’, probably helped by the fact that the film starts in about the same way.

His next action doesn’t really help him win the viewer’s heart either. While working as a courier, he comes across a robbery just gone wrong. The area seems deserted, there are a few corpses on the floor and two huge sports bags full of money. Pierre-Paul doesn’t hesitate long, hides the bags in his van and then nervously dodges the questions of the police officers who rushed over.

What does a righteous citizen like Pierre-Paul do in such a case? Does he go for his own gain or does he stay true to his moral convictions and make the world a little better? Arcand keeps it in the middle of where the story is going for a long time, and thanks to the intriguing relationship that develops between babyface Pierre-Paul, the breathtakingly beautiful and expensive escort Aspasie (Maripier Morin) and the recently released biker Sylvain Bigras (Remy Girard, with whom Arcand previously collaborated) the film continues to fascinate. It is by no means credible, but this Robin Hood story with Pretty Woman elements makes you forget that easily while watching.

Of course, the other sides of the story are also discussed: the criminal organization behind the robbery; the police officers who find Pierre-Paul very suspicious… And in between we get glimpses of the underside of Canadian society: the homeless problem is particularly poignant. Some scenes feel a bit unnatural, a hard reckoning really wouldn’t have been necessary and with the portraits of homeless people at the end of the film, Arcand seems to be dedicating his film to them, which is perhaps a bit thick on top. But ‘The Fall of the American Empire’ is a skillfully made crime comedy, which is given a unique sauce thanks to the idealism of the film-maker and the ensuing fairytale elements.