Friday, May 28, 2010
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Friday, May 28, 2010
MOVIE REVIEW
The Father Of My Children (Le Père De Mes Enfants)
A Family Where All Are For
One, But One's Not For All
Louis-Do des Lencquesaing as Grégoire in "The Father Of My Children", directed
by Mia Jansen-Løve. IFC Films
by
Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com
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Friday, May 28, 2010
Mia Jansen-Løve's "The Father Of My Children" is an intimate portrayal of a
family's bond tested from the inside and outside. The film opened today in
Los Angeles and San Francisco and continues in New York City.
In France, Grégoire (Louis-Do de Lencquesaing) is a workaholic movie producer so
deeply absorbed in his vocation that he neglects his wife Sylvia (Chiara
Caselli) and their three kids. The phone is Grégoire's pillow.
Movies are his obsession. He's never far from either. His film
producing team are like blood relatives, much closer to him than his wife.
For Grégoire, his family are like dessert as an afterthought in the wake of an
already satisfying meal. Movies are Grégoire's chronic main course.
We gain an understanding of this work-first, family-second man through his work
and commitment to it, just as Grégoire's family does. We grow with his
family. We feel Grégoire's plight as he grapples with financial crisis and
insecurity. One of the most meaningful aspects of Miss Jansen-Løve's film
is the evolution of its young children, whose performances are mature, robust
and richly authentic. (In particular the lead star's real-life daughter
Alice de Lencquesaing, who plays Clémence, and guides us beautifully on a
revelatory journey of her own.)
Miss Hansen-Løve's drama avoids sentimentality or indictment, viewing its events
largely through an objective lens. The film, which the director also
wrote, earnestly chronicles life and avoids impulsive judgments or theatrical
treatments. We are stunned yet unsurprised by the tone the film takes.
"The Father Of My Children" doesn't tell us how to feel. We are thinking
about and feeling this film more than we are merely passive observers of its
events. We get to know this family very well. I felt like an
honorary member of it, never guilty for a second for living with them for two
hours. In this respect and many others, "The Father Of My Children" is
engrossing and thoroughly enjoyable.
Miss Jansen-Løve, also an actress and just 29, debuted in 2006 with "All Is
Forgiven" and grows exponentially here in her strong talent for storytelling and
direction with "The Father Of My Children". This sophomore effort is no
jinx. It's a marvelous achievement. The film was a prize winner at
last year's Cannes Film Festival, and played at the 2009 Toronto International
Film Festival. Pascual Auffray's cinematography is vibrant yet muted, and
the film's musical choices are smart, lively and perfectly placed, shrewdly
depicting mood and growth in the characters.
"The Father Of My Children", a confident, resplendent work, applies styles and
techniques of French cinema that remain so natural, passionate and evocative
today. French cinema, whether via Godard, Resnais, Rohmer, Malle, Renoir,
Truffaut, etc., always seems to do this so very well. How does one measure
a life on film? How does one evaluate a story of a real life? How
does one measure a fictionalized life on film? As a rejoinder to all of
these questions, "The Father Of My Children" measures up so very well, and is
far from a waste of your valuable time.
With: Eric Elmosnino, Alice Gautier, Manelle Driss, Sandrine Dumas, Dominique
Frot.
"The Father Of My Children" is not rated by the Motion Picture
Association Of America. It contains a brief moment that may stun or cause
alarm.
The film is in French and occasional English, with English subtitles. The film's duration is one hour and 50 minutes.
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