Comment J'ai Tue Mon Pere Details

Modern Typical French Film

This is a nicely shot piece with a faint story line, the story of a man's (lack of) relationship with his father. It is typical in that not a lot happens but is is intruiging and interesting. It is well acted and the locations and photography are excellent

[Highly rated reviewer]

Comment J'ai Tue Mon Pere

At 40 Jean-Luc (Berling) would seem to have it all. The great job, the money, the house, the beautiful wife (Regnier), the beautiful bit on the side (Amira Casar) but when his long estranged father Maurice (Bouquet) appears at one of his parties Jean-Luc must take into his home and his life this man he has resented for over 20 years. The French do character studies well and this is no exception. How I Killed My Father paints vivid pictures of its characters, even those who have smaller parts. Charles Berling does well as Jean-Luc but his portrayl is never as shaded as what his co-stars contribute. Bouquet, a veteran of over 50 years as an actor is sensational. You never quite know what Maurice will say next, some of it is warm, some funny but often his dialogue is harsh and cold, particularly when directed at Berling. Bouquet plays the character so well that he tugs your emotions in different directions at different times and never quite lets you settle on an opinion about Maurice. Natacha Regnier has the smallest role among the leads and that is a great shame because she again shows what a diverse and hugely impressive talent she is. Tiny things in her acting allow us to believe in the character (witness the way she plays with Berling's hand as they lie in bed, a tiny gesture, but an intimate one that allows us immediately to buy their marriage) The scene in which she tells Bouquet how much she wants to have children is heartbreaking and worth the rental price on its own. There are problems though and most come from director Anne Fontaine. Stephane Guillon is quite impressive as Patrick, Maurice's second son, whom he barely knows, remarkable given what he has to play with. The stand up 'comedy' that Patrick delivers is, to be kind, an acquired taste and by the end Fontaine uses his monlogues as a hideously pretentious way of commenting on her own film. Fontaine could also do with a better editor, How I Killed My Father may be just 90 minutes long but it could use some trimming just to keep the occasionally excrutiatingly slow pace from flagging so much as it can. If you like watching great actors really getting into meaty characters then you could do a lot worse than check this intermittently excellent film out.