The Father of My Children

The Father of My Children is a 2009 French film, written and directed by Mia Hansen-Løve. It is one the most perceptive films I've ever seen about a certain segment of the film industry, and also a serious family drama. However, I found myself doing a lot of timepiece checking during the film, as I wasn't particularly engaged with the characters. I found the film to be very analytical, almost as if it were studying the characters like laboratory specimens, rather than being involved heavily in their lives.

The focus of the film is on a production company based in Paris. It is run by Gregoire (Louis-Do de Lencquesaing), who does his best to juggle the demands of his business with his family, a wife and three daughters. We soon come to learn that his company is under incredible financial pressure, owing a million Euros to a film lab and dealing with a mercurial Swedish director.

But Gregoire has a happy home life, when he manages to spend time with them. His two younger daughters are imaginative and irrepressible, and his oldest daughter (played by the actor's real-life daughter, Alice de Lencquesaing) is more circumspect. During this first half of the film, though, one gets the impression that another shoe is going to drop. Maybe it's because I've seen so many films that I knew something was coming.

And something does come, and the film turns on a dime about half-way through. It's difficult to discuss the film without discussing this plot point--suffice it to say that a tragedy strikes the family. The second half of the film is about how the family deals with this tragedy, and while I admired Hansen-Løve's restraint in this matter, I also felt the film was a little bloodless. It's a very tightly constructed film, but it might have been better with more mess.

This is an admirable film, but I wanted it to be better. There is some nice acting by both the de Lencquesaings, though.