In My Father's Den Movie Review:


This strong Kiwi film is powerfully involving, even if it's also rather heavy-going and sneaky. Solid performances help carry us through the story, even though we don't really find out what's going on until the very end.

After abandoning his rural New Zealand hometown 17 years ago, world-renowned journalist Paul (MacFadyen) returns for his father's funeral. His brother and sister-in-law Andrew and Penny (Moy and Otto) are shocked to see him. And Paul discovers that his former flame (Rimmer) has a 16-year-old daughter (Barclay), who shows innate skill as a writer. He puts two and two together: does he really have a daughter? But this is only the first hint of a whole platoon of skeletons that are about to come tumbling out of various closets.

There's a muted, powerfully strained tone to this film that really captures the emotions these people are repressing. None of them are willing to face up to truths about their past and present, and writer-director McGann continually drops hints that "something happened" to cause all of this dysfunction. Although he infuriatingly withholds most of the information until the very end. Out-of-sequence editing, artful flashbacks and elusive camerawork keep us at arm's length from the awful truth. This works to draw us into the mystery, but it also alienates and frustrates us as the story refuses to properly unfold. And combined with the sullen atmosphere, it's not always easy to watch.

Performances are solid and revelatory. MacFadyen is especially good--piercing and muddled at the same time, engaging in all kinds of awkward interaction, most of which is completely misunderstood. Rimmer and Otto are also superb in slightly underwritten roles. The entire cast could have used a bit of realistic light relief in the script; the point is that no one really talks to each other, which is intriguing and meaningful, and yet they also fail to interact even on more superficial levels. It's just so serious and intense--even the wacky cow-pie fight is underscored with sadness. But as a result, this thoughtful, raw film has a heart-rending kick. Several of them, actually.



Rich Cline

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