Film Review: Father of My Children

Published on Thursday 4 March 2010 18:03

FATHER OF MY CHILDREN (12A) **** DIRECTED BY: MIA HANSEN-LØVE STARRING: LOUIS-DO DE LENCQUESAING, CHIARA CASELLI, ALICE DE LENCQUESAING

AS IN the recent Up in the Air, the human cost of the credit crunch is at the heart of Father of My Children, a poignant, assured family drama from French film-maker Mia Hansen-Lve, 28. Based loosely on a real-life tragedy involving the late film producer Humbert Balsan (Manderlay, Grand cole), it revolves around Gregoire (Louis-Do de Lencquesaing), a seemingly laid-back film producer whose life becomes plagued by spiralling debts. Always good at hiding the frustrations and difficulties of his all-consuming job from his beloved family, the film spends much of its first half cleverly focused on the calm centre of Gregoire's personal storm before suddenly pulling back in the second half and letting us see the bigger picture, especially the way his wife Sylvia (Chiara Caselli) and their three daughters have to pick through the personal wreckage that results from the drastic course of action he pursues. The film refuses to serve up any trite resolutions, clinging instead to the notion that, no matter how bad things get, the important people in your life should make it worth living.