Originally scheduled to be released last March, but delayed due to theatre closings in Quebec, this is character actor Rémy Girard’s crowning achievement. One of Quebec’s most beloved screen icons, Girard has been a ubiquitous presence in most of the homegrown French- language films that have gotten the attention of English Canada: THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS, THE DECLINE OF THE AMERICAN EMPIRE, THE FALL OF THE AMERICAN EMPIRE, DE PÈRE EN FLIC, INCENDIES, LES BOYS, LA FLORIDA, JESUS OF MONTREAL, THE RED VIOLIN, and the list goes on.

Here Girard plays an arrogant university professor by the name of Edouard Beauchemin. An opinionated and judgemental academic, his character could well have been transported into the future from the ensemble cast of Denys Arcand’s seminal DECLINE OF THE AMERICAN EMPIRE. Only now the professor has become even more insufferable to those around him as he is battling some form of dementia. His wife leaves him, and he is put in the care of his daughter’s boyfriend’s daughter, who is not terribly impressed or deferential to an old guy that seems to live in another world.

Girard is so note perfect in the role, that he could almost be seen as a symbol of the flickering but waning aspirations of his entire politically active generation in Quebec. We predict that you will be hearing more of this performance at this year’s Canadian Screen Awards. This is a rare chance to celebrate one of Canada’s finest actors.