Writer and director Denys Arcand had a hit in 1986 with his film The Decline of the American Empire. That film was a raucous, talky romp of a movie that followed a group of middle-aged intellectuals through a chapter or two of their tumultuous very sexual lives. In the Barbarian Invasions, Arcand brings back these characters for a gathering that is much less fun.

Remy (Remy Girard) is being diagnosed with terminal cancer as the film begins. His ex-wife Louise (Dorothee Berryman) can only take Remy in small doses, though she has managed to sustain some affection and love for him. She calls their son Sebastien (Sebastien Rousseau), a very successful businessman who lives in London, and orders him home to help his father through his sickness.

Father and son do not get along. They agree on nothing. The first conversation they have when Sebastien arrives turns into a shouting match with every old resentment exposed in no time. But, Louise tells her son, that makes no difference. It is his responsibility as a son to make the last days of his father’s life as pleasant as possible. And that is what Sebastien does. He collects all of Remy’s old friends and works hard to give his father a painless, comfortable last chapter.

Now this may not sound like a movie that you want to rush out and see. When I summarized the plot of Barbarian Invasions to a friend I hoped would see it with me, the answer was swift and certain. “No, that sounds depressing.” But Barbarian Invasions is not depressing. It is sad, and the distinction may not be enough to seem worth investigating. There is no denying Barbarian Invasions is sad, and it is another rather equivocal quality: uplifting.

At the beginning, the characters argue and tiptoe around Remy’s sickness, but as they spend time together, and Remy gets sicker, the very best parts of themselves begin to surface. Arcand’s screenplay is subtle, very smart, very funny and feels utterly natural. When the reconciliations fall into place towards the end, the film achieves a sweet elegiac quality that is very satisfying. The ending is achieved not without conflict, culture clashes, drama and some suspense.

The drama of Barbarian Invasions centers around the relationship between father and son. “My son is an ambitious and puritanical capitalist, while I have always been a sensual socialist,” Remy complains. Remy is right about himself. He loves wine, women and ideas. Among the friends who surround his bedside are several ex-lovers. Sebastien resents that his father was running after women much of his childhood. He hates the way his mother has been treated. And Remy is still charming the ladies. “You remember Gaelle,” Sebastien says of his very lovely fiance. “Gaelle is unforgettable,” is Remy’s response.

Arcand clearly loves his character Remy and makes him lovable despite his selfishness and many other faults, but he has also made Sebastien a most likable capitalist. Sebastien puts his money and ambition to good use. He is assured, strong and fun to watch.

The hospital Remy is housed in is terribly overcrowded and underfunded. Remy says, “I voted for Medicare, and I’ll accept the consequences.” But Sebastien bribes everyone who needs a payoff so that his father can be properly cared for in private on a floor of the hospital that is empty because of funding cuts. He bribes the hospital administrator who speaks a really foreign language, managed care bureaucratic jargon, incomprehensible in any language. He bribes the unions who preach to him about how everything begins and ends with the unions. He makes extra payments to nurses and anyone they need.

The problems with the health care system in Canada are very amusingly portrayed. Father and son do some of their best bonding in ambulances crossing into the United States for tests. And Sebastien, who does not trust the Canadian doctor, sends all test results to a friend who practices in Maryland.

As the disease progresses, his doctor friend in the States advises that he find some heroin for his father because, at some point, the morphine will not manage the pain. Sebastien wastes no time. First he tries to go to the police for advice on where to get heroin. When this doesn’t work out, he finds Nathalie, the daughter of one of his father’s ex-lovers who is an addict. Sebastien makes a deal to support her habit and pay additional expenses if she will be a special nurse to his father and administer the heroin.

Nathalie is played by Marie-Josee Croze. She is dark, beautiful actress and gives a very moving performance. She and Remy really help each other, so much so that her presence and support helps him accept death. His presence and support change her so much that at the end of the movie, she is accepting life.

Sebastien also makes it possible for Remy to receive video messages via e-mail from his daughter who is sailing a yacht so far away she cannot get home. These video messages are some of the most touching moments of the film.

When Remy is quite ill, many in this party move to the lake house of their friend Pierre, a place Remy has spent many happy hours. The setting is lovely, and the group rallies to make Remy’s last days full of good conversation, fond reminiscences, food and wine. Remy catalogs his regrets and disappointments, but with such good friends surrounding him, his fears and doubts disappear, swallowed up by the good will of those who love him.

Barbarian Invasions takes its title from a strange little sequence in the film that appears on the television. A pundit is referring to the events of September 11th, and we even see the second plane hitting the second tower. The pundit talks of a new age where American can no longer keep the barbarians at arm’s length. Like much of Barbarian Invasions, the information conveyed in this sequence is serious and more than a little frightening. But the spirit informing Barbarian Invasions suggests that every tragedy can be met with a response, as long as we make the effort to take care of each other. Things can be awful, but not hopeless. Sad, but not depressing.