The Decline of the American empire = Le Declin de l'empire Americain

Denys Arcand (Jesus of Montreal, Love and human remains) wrote and directed this urbane comedy set in French Canada, about the sexual and intellectual life of eight adults. Four men (gay and straight) are gathered at a country retreat preparing a sumptuous dinner for themselves and four women. Over the course of the afternoon the men discuss sex, sexuality, affairs, fantasies, cruising, conquests, and longing unfulfilled. Meanwhile in the city four women, mostly the respective partners of the men, work out at a gym discussing sex, affairs, group sex, past lovers, s&m, and frustrations with their partners. The audience learns much about each character’s flaws, deceptions and secret lives. Flashback sequences reveal past indiscretions within the group, committed with one another. When all eight gather at dinner that night the openness displayed in the day spills into the evening activities and certain disclosures threaten the sanctity of the relationships of those gathered. Arcand examines the intellectual makeup of academics, the differences between men and women, the forces of sex and the politics of relationships. In French with English subtitles.