At 82 years old, Denys Arcand has not yet said his last word and, above all, has not yet provoked enough reactions. In his new film willThe famous filmmaker, who has been part of our cultural landscape for 60 years, takes a perplexed look at the excesses of our society today.
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Abolition of culture, lack of respect for elders, woke activists who want to erase and rewrite history, rabid feminists, duplicity of politicians… Denys Arcand spares no one in this new satirical comedy – which won’t necessarily be his last film in in which Rémy Girard slips into the skin of a 70-year-old bachelor who is influenced by an era characterized by political correctness.
“This is not an accusation against my time,” the director of “The Fall of the American Empire” and “Jesus of Montreal” made clear on the day of the film’s premiere, last Monday.
“I would say I’m rather at a loss. Are we heading towards a world where we will correct all art? We have already started correcting non-essential texts such as James Bond and Harry Potter. But we could also correct Shakespeare… It fills me with perplexity. Like all old people, I wonder where we are going…”
Once again it is his old accomplice Rémy Girard to whom Denys Arcand turns to defend the lead role in his film. “Testament” is the seventh collaboration between the filmmaker and his favorite actor, after The Decline of the American Empire and The Barbarian Invasions.
“Rémy is my spokesman and my alter ego. He therefore experiences what I experience in society and in the environment in which I find myself, explains Arcand.
“The questions are constant in this complicated time in which we live. In the film, it is his character who expresses his dismay at the complexity of life. He’s a character who’s a little bit helpless.”
Denys Arcand knows very well that this new offer will divide. That’s why he prefers to let the public decide for themselves which side they want to take.
“I have enough trust in the public,” he said in an interview with the Journal. It’s funny, but for some mysterious reason the public understands what I do. He often understands things better than certain critics, certain professors and certain intellectuals. People completely understand what I’m saying. »
▶ Will will be issued across Quebec on October 5th.