The following review ran in the August issue of Limelight. The October issue is now out featuring my review of Lisa Cholodenko's The Kids Are All Right while my colleague Fenella Kernebone casts her eye over Joan Rivers - a Piece of Work, The Disappearance of Alice Creed, and Boy.
FATHER OF MY CHILDREN
Opens August 26
Genre Drama
Four and a half stars
Scores of films have been made about the cinema, frequently homing in on directors, actors, writers and studio bosses, but this accomplished French production is the first I can recall to focus on an independent producer.
Gifted young French writer-director Mia Hansen-Løve has vividly brought to life the considerable challenges involved in producing cinema made outside of the Hollywood system - a task that’s mysterious not only to the average filmgoer but to many inside the film industry - and most importantly of all, given them an intimately personal face.
That face belongs to Gregoire Canvel (Louis-Do de Lencquesaing), not just a money-man but a cinephile dedicated to the ideal of artistic expression and finding ways to enable it to happen. He’s a loving father with three lovely daughters (all played quite wonderfully) who worry about what to them seems like workaholism, for he spends most of his life glued to his mobile, perpetually wheeling and dealing.
But gradually it becomes clear to us, if not to his family, that his dedication has a dark underside, and events takes a dramatic and unexpected turn that Hansen-Løve handles with admirable confidence. This is a mature, perceptive and deeply moving film. _ Lynden Barber
2 comments:
Lynden i was a bit sceptical of this film having read so many (seemingly overly) effusive reviews, but caught a screening on the weekend and... absolutely loved it. Still can't believe it was made by 25 year old. What a talent.
"this accomplished French production is the first I can recall to focus on an independent producer."
Brilliant funding strategy from a young writer director!
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