My Father and I

Rating:
Summary: Giving gerontology a bad name
Review: A wonderful movie, with superb actors . director and script. The theme of the profiteering modern doctor versus the old fashioned healer father ismagnificently handled and the rest of the story and the cast really only adorn this basic theme. When I heard the physician-son recommend human growth hormone for rejuvenation ,I knew, I faced a quack albeit a very successful one. A theme that for some reason is tabu in Hollywood. I hope not forever.

Rating:
Summary: Superb Psychological Thriller in the Tradition of Hitchcock
Review: I saw this excellent French film a couple of years ago in the theater and have been waiting for it to come out in DVD ever since. The writing, directing and acting all make it a superb psychological thriller in the tradition of Hitchcock--more like his "Vertigo" era than his "Rear Window" era. It's essentially about a son who has buried all these ill feelings toward his father inside him. Then one day he learns his father has died and his feelings resurfaces. Of course he suffers from massive guilt, but he also wonders what his life might've been like if it wasn't for his father. That's all I want to say--I don't want to spoil the rest of this film. A critic compared this film to "Swimming Pool." I can see that. They're both about repressed characters with a terrific imagination. The one thing I don't like about this DVD is that they changed the title. I prefer "How I Killed My Father" over "My Father and I." I highly recommend this film.

Rating:
Summary: Fascinatingly bold, provocative view of Dysfunctional Family
Review: If you like to become so involved in a film that you feel as though you are inside the minds of the actors and the writer and the atmosphere of a film, then MY FATHER AND I is definitely a classic film to treasure. On the other hand, if you favor stories that are linear and clear with a start and an undisputed finish that brings assured closure, then this film will be frustrating. Anne Fontaine has gathered an accomplished cast of French actors and directed them in a mind excursion that asks as many questions as it answers: are we observing a family out of sync and falling into disrepair before our eyes, or are we privy to the instant mental response to a letter that triggers a life in a flashing moment that is resolved by psychological hypothesis? It is this kind of storytelling that the French do so well, and in this reviewer's opinion this is one of the finest films to challenge our minds that has come along in years.

Jean-Luc (impeccably portrayed by the exquisite Charles Berling) is a wealthy physician whose practice in Versailles caters to the aging wealthy, a clientele who see him as a god with his Human Growth Hormone injections, Botox treatment, and other battlements against aging (Gerontology, his specialty). He is married to a phenomenally beautiful wealthy wife (Natacha Regnier, as beautiful as she is talented), lives in a magnificent home, uses his younger brother as his aide/chauffeur allowing that brother to pursue his dreams of being a standup comedian, and maintains a mistress on the side. His marriage is childless: his wife depends on her husband to be her doctor and has been informed that for her health she should not have the children she yearns to bear. As the story opens, Jean-Luc is readying himself for a party honoring him for his contributions to the town, a party of great elegance given in his own home. As he prepares to dress he notices a letter announcing that his father has died. Pregnant pause.... At the party that commences his father appears and gradually we discover that the father Maurice (played with great subtlety and nuance by Michele Bouquet) and his sons have not seen each other for many years: the disillusioned Maurice left his family when his two sons were very young to go off to Africa to treat the indigenous population - a physician to the poor in contrast to Jean-Luc's physician to the wealthy. This history has profoundly affected Jean-Luc who avoids intimacy with his wife, does not want children to remind him of the childhood he remembers with loathing for his deserting father, and in many ways has brought him to a life that mimics that of the very father that he no longer knows. Maurice ingratiates himself into staying with Jean-Luc and his wife, gently alludes to the fact that after leaving Africa following one of the many government overthrows he is without pension or support, and gently requests support form his wealthy son. Maurice befriends Jean-Luc's wife, attempts reconnection with the other son, and finally has a confrontation with Jean-Luc over the differences (and very real similarities) between their life choices. At this point a significant scene brings closure to the tale and we are returned to the image of Jean-Luc reading the letter that initiated the pregnant pause at the beginning of the film. It is up to us, the viewer to decide if we have observed fact, or if we have entered the imaginative brain of Jean-Luc reacting to a letter. This is movie making at its finest. The direction is brilliant, tense, revelatory, and kaleidoscopic. The acting is so very fine that it defies description. An outstanding movie visually, psychologically, and technically. Highly Recommended.

Rating:
Summary: "I'm not obligated to love you."
Review: Jean-Luc (Charles Berling) seems to have a perfect life. He's a gerontologist to the aging wealthy, he's married to a beautiful, sweet society wife Isa (Natacha Regnier), and he lives and entertains in a splendid country mansion. If material possessions are a marker of happiness, then Jean-Luc should be ecstatic. On the day of a large party, Jean-Luc comes home and finds a letter from Africa informing him that his long-estranged father, Maurice is dead. Jean-Luc takes the news quietly, and the day continues. But that evening, when the party is underway, Maurice arrives without a fuss and joins the party. Isa takes an immediate fancy to her new-found father-in-law and insists he stay with them. Jean-Luc is obviously not so keen on the idea, but Maurice moves in and begins to be part of their lives.

Maurice (Michel Bouquet) is also a doctor, but he's chosen a far different path from his son. Maurice, it seems abandoned his wife and two young sons and took off for Africa, where he's spent the last 30 or so years. Jean-Luc clearly hasn't forgiven his father for the abandonment, but his younger brother, Patrick (Stephane Guillon), a would-be-comic with issues of his own, doesn't seem to nurture any chips on his shoulder. As Maurice becomes integrated into Jean-Luc and Isa's domestic life, it's clear that he doesn't approve of many aspects of his son's professional and private life. On the other hand, there are some peculiar aspects to Jean-Luc's relationship with his wife. What exactly are those little pills he gives Isa to take every night?

Maurice seems on the surface to be a very sweet old man. There's one scene as he walks away from the camera, when Patrick compares his father to a "disguised priest". At the moment the words leave Patrick's lips, I realised how perfect that description is. Maurice seems to be an aesthete, and he observes Jean-Luc's lifestyle with an edge of moral disapproval. While there is certainly room for improvement in Jean-Luc's personal relationships, is Maurice's criticism justified or even appropriate? Does Maurice have an insider's wisdom that Jean-Luc lacks? Does a father guilty of "chronic abandonment" have the right to arrive and start setting things straight? And at the root of all these questions is the idea that if a parent abandons his children for thirty years, what possible relationship can be salvaged? Jean-Luc, ultimately seems too damaged and too alienated from everyone, and his new-found acquaintance with his father seems to shatter the emotional structure he's built for himself. There is a sense of unease over all the domestic scenes, and this unease grows as the film develops. "How I killed My Father"--alternate title--"My Father and I" from director Anne Fontaine, is reminiscent of the best of Claude Chabrol. The film doesn't offer all the answers to its mysteries--but it's every bit as intriguing and thought provoking as "Swimming Pool". Superb acting from the entire cast--this film is in French with English subtitles--displacedhuman