bon22
This film gave me the kind of experience I hope for when watching French movies: A character driven, intimate story, which so involved me that I feel as if I'd been away on a trip to France. The performances were authentic & lean. The scenery, both interior shots of apartments & buildings, as well as exterior shots of street life, made me feel as if I was in Paris. I was engrossed as to how the characters reacted to the heavy subject matter & how the story line progressed. The film has great depth without feeling heavy.A reviewer here on IMDb commented about how they didn't like the scenes which were not driving the story line, but for me, that's what I love about (some) French Cinema: a character walks from point A to point B or a character orders coffee while awaiting an important appointment. These connecting scenes are the stuff of real life & enable the viewer to identify with the character. Everyone experiences those mundane moments & knows what it feels like.Except for the main character Gregoire, I did not judge the reactions of the other characters: I simply observed their reactions to the serious events that befell them.The final scene was darkly humorous: Doris Day sings "Que Sera, Sera" as the characters flee Paris, leaving behind the life they had loved.
mmunier
I feel that being only the 4th person to evaluate this film is a little daunting, but what the heck. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, well staged in my birth city, and now I live in Sydney Australia it's always a bonus to get a free trip! Beside this fact I did really like the way the characters' acting did not look like they were acting and so look so natural. I did not realise this was taken from true events but do not feel it does matter anyway. It's just a story of someone who has dreams and works very positively towards them despite the increasing impossibility of success to the point there is no return. Despair and depression are the winner to the shocking final towel trow. The rest of the livings are trying to cope and pick the pieces but in vain, at least for the pieces as the movie gets you to believe that despite everything life goes on... you could say this actually is a contradiction in term! I was a little annoyed about the music score in the beginning, rather loud and not flattering, perhaps I missed something, and I also must have missed something with the ending song that did not work very well for me, I found it rather inappropriate, but my friends disagreed with me so there you are, each person may respond in different way.
gradyharp
Yes, this space is dedicated to the sale of a movie poster for the magnificent film 'Le père de mes enfants' (THE FATHER OF MY CHILDREN) but likely the film spot will surface very soon: this is on of those foreign films that enters quietly, gently urging audiences to notice how fine the product is. So despite the fact that the film is currently in theaters and will soon be released on DVD, this serves as a wake-up notice to film lovers everywhere. Young Writer/Director Mia Hansen-Løve has created a story loosely based on a real situation that manages to examine the central aspect of family love: 'the defeat of death, the victory of life'. Grégoire Canvel (Louis-Do de Lencquesaing) is a producer in the film industry, an auteur who is devoted to quality films. As a producer he has several films in varying stages of production (including one in Sweden directed by a difficult genius who has little respect for cost containment) and the financial aspects of his Moon Films is in rocky terrain, despite being surrounded by a staff devoted to his vision and going without pay because of their commitment. At the same time Grégoire is a devoted husband to his wise wife Sylvia (Chiara Caselli) and to his three daughters - the oldest being the sensitive Clémence (a stunning portrayal by young Alice de Lencquesaing), Valentine (Alice Gautier) and Billie (Manelle Driss) - taking country walks with them and being wholly involved with their family activities, despite the fact that he is constantly on the cellphone managing the tragedies that abound at work. It is apparent that everyone who comes into contact with Grégoire feels the special gifts he has - except for the lawyer and creditors he tries to avoid. The financial sinkhole opens and Grégoire, in despair, commits suicide. The story actually begins here, as the point of the film is how each of the people who came under Grégoire's influence - co-workers, wife and children, and friends - responds to the loss of this man. There is not the usual breast-beating grieving, but rather a quiet study of how each of these people is affected by and reacts to the passing of a solitary genius by suicide. The film is definitely one that is life affirming rather than an extended eulogy! The entire cast is excellent, with special kudos to the children as well as to Eric Elmosnino who plays a rock bound friend to the family and the director's brother Igor Hansen-Løve whose small part as a hopeful writer is richly detailed. This may be too early a time to judge the talent of Mia Hansen-Løve, but if she is able to maintain the quality she achieves in THE FATHER OF MY CHILDREN, she has an exciting future in cinema. Highly recommended. Grady Harp
guy-bellinger
Seeing "Le père de mes enfants" you would think that its writer-director, Mia Hansen-Løve, is in the last part of her career, that she has gone through the ups and downs of a long life, has made peace with it and is now able to contemplate the world with wisdom and understanding. And you would be totally wrong. Mia Hansen-Løve was only twenty-seven when she made this profound film.She took her inspiration from two real-life models, Humbert Balsan, a brilliant film producer who took his life at the age of 51 when he realized he would go bankrupt, and Donna Balsan, his wife, who, for all her grief, did her utmost to save Ognon Pictures, her husband's company, after his death. But mind you, this is no straight biopic. For instance, the names have been changed; Grégoire Canvel (the screen equivalent of Balsan) has three kids instead of two; the way he kills himself is different; Bela Tarr, the Hungarian director Balsan had trouble with at the time of his death, has become Stig Janson, a Swedish helmer; and so on… Even Mia Hansen-Løve herself, who is part of the story, is represented indirectly, by Arthur,a young film maker that Grégoire wants to produce but finally can't ( a reference to "Tout est pardonné", Hansen-Løve's former film, whose production was taken over by Pelléas Films after Balsan's suicide). Oddly enough, Arthur happens to be interpreted by Igor Hansen-Løve, Mia's own brother. Sure, "Le père de mes enfants" is not the exact telling of the life of one of the most original producers of French cinema, but it is very close to reality and perhaps even closer than if it was a mere biopic, since what Mia Hansen-Løve tries to do is to capture the essence of a man's soul, not only to piece facts together.To achieve this end, the writer-director divides her story into two distinct parts. The first one presents Grégoire in his professional as well as in his family life, both tending to intermingle to the despair of Sylvia, Grégoire's wife. The long opening sequence during which Grégoire uses his mobile phone whatever the place he is in is explicit in this respect. At his country house on the weekend, Grégoire is the loving father of three delightful daughters and Sylvia's faithful companion. At his Paris office he is an industrious man, the enthusiastic, tireless, staunch defender of auteur film-making, whether French or foreign. But money troubles become more and more insistent, preventing him from indulging his passion serenely. The documentary aspect is excellent: the account of the way the small production company works day after day is very realistic without being boring. But interesting as this part is, it would not be enough to make "Le père de mes enfants" something else but a good film. What makes it really outstanding is the second part in which Mia Hansen-Løve explores the consequences of Grégoire's suicide on his nearest and dearest and on his collaborators. And she does it with a truly magic touch. She first very intelligently disposes of the set pieces of the discovery of the corpse and of the funeral. Instead, she directly cuts to the deep sorrow experienced by Grégoire's wife and daughters, the feeling of unacceptable loss, of resentment against the deceased who abandoned them. Then she shows how the characters evolve, slowly coming to terms with the situation, gradually realizing that Grégoire's life has been so rich, has brought them so much that he is now part of them, that what he accomplished in the artistic domain before committing suicide has not disappeared. They know now that his spirit will go on living, through his films, through the persons they have become thanks to him…A sad story but which does not make you sad in the end, for Mia Hansen-Løve doesn't take morbid delight in the evocation of death and the damages it causes. On the contrary, it is life she pays a tribute to when she films wonderful scenes of family life with or without Grégoire, often in a sunny atmosphere. In the end, we get the comforting feeling that arrogant Death finally admits defeat.The actors, although practically unknown, are very convincing. Louis-Do de Lencqueseing is fascinatingly close to his model and to his natural charm. His own teenage daughter Alice de Lencquesaing, who plays Grégoire's oldest daughter, is simply wonderful, displaying a wealth of unaffected beauty and hypersensitivity. Alice Gautier and Manelle Driss, who play her little sisters, are full of life, and Chiara Caselli, in the difficult role of Gregoire's wife, rings true throughout.Florent Dudognon, who reviewed "Tout est pardonné", Hansen-Løve's first feature on Evene on 30-7-2007, used the following terms to qualify the film: "touching, sensitive, sweet, unmarred by pop psychology crap, played with restraint". I guess he will not change a word if he comments on "Le père de mes enfants", a moving picture you must not miss on any account.
