For the
sake of not having to write the same intro a million
different ways throughout the rest of time, just know that
this column avoids the overly long and sometimes dull
process of full film reviews and instead opts to break
things down based on what I thought going in, what happened
while I was there and what I learned at the end of it all.
Thanks for reading!
The
Breakdown - The Father Of My Children
The Impression:
A French film about a French independent film producer
nicknamed "The Pirate." Though I had absolutely no
knowledge of the film, or its inspiration, going in, the
sheer Frenchness of the film appealed to my latent film
snob.
The Reality:
I really enjoyed The Father of My Children but I
can't say that it varied a terrible amount from the tight
structures of modern French cinema I've grown accustomed to.
It's a well-made, well-acted piece with an especially
impressive set of performances from Louis-Do de Lencquesaing
and Chiara Caselli as the heads of the Canvel brood. The
narrative follows the long-lasting impression of the French
New Wave as it weaves and bobs without seeming judgment,
opinion, or path. The characters are uniformly round, and I
felt for each and every one of them.
That said, even with a shocking plot twist in the first half
of the film, I found myself liking the film but not
entranced. I find myself always a little put off to realize
that cinema, regardless of its origin, can still be squeezed
in to a mold. Be it French or American.
The Lesson:
The French do family films particularly well, just not
particularly different.
Noah Sanders is the blog/news editor at Light In The
Attic and a contributor at Sound On The Sound and
the KEXP blog. He also has his own
Criterion-based film site, Criterion Quest.
If you'd like to contact Noah in regards to his
writings here at Side One: Track One then please do
so
here.
- Noah Sanders
-
-
Unless
otherwise expressly stated, all text in this blog and any
related pages, including the blog's archives, is licensed by
John Laird under a
Creative Commons License.
