I have not understood the connection between this movie and its title. The title is supposed to mean this: The US has become such a large empire whose power and influence has exceeded all previous empires in history like Roman Empire. All wars before the 9.11 incident happened outside the boundaries of the US. So the 9.11 incident can be seen as the first attack against the Empire by the “barbarians”.

Whatever the title it has, this is a very touching movie about life and death, father and son. Remy is a professor of history who has terminal disease. His life was all about women, which of course led to his divorce. His son Sabestian is now a very successful businessman in the finance sector, who flew from London to Canada with his fiancee to see Remy. Remy was admitted in a hospital of inferior facilities due to the inefficient medicare system. Sabestian uses all his means, legal or illegal, to make Remy’s last days very comfortable. At last, Remy passed away with all his friends and family around him.

According to the introduction materials, the characters in this movie are actually taken from The Decline of the American Empire, a movie of the same director Denys Arcand.