FilmCriticLalitRao
Apart from having loads of incomplete information about the lifestyles of film stars, most people also have their minds full of vague ideas about film producers as they are taken for rich businessmen. A layman doesn't think twice before believing that producers would be willing to invest in any film. Father, producer and suicide are three key words which describe the essence of Mia Hansen-Løve's film 'Father of my children'/Le Père De Mes Enfants". In the beginning, there is a doting father in this film who has immense love for his children. What is worth appreciating is the fact that despite his tight schedule, he manages to spend time with his family. From a sociological point of view, family is the most important social structure known to human beings. This is one reason why the film's protagonist takes good care of his family. He knows that he can strike a fine balance with family life and work. However, there are times when life offers new surprises. It is at this stage that one witnesses how despair,tremendous pressure drive a famous producer to commit suicide. The real worth of a human being can be measured only at the time of his/her absence. This maxim can be applied to this film's title which looks at a father who is no more from the point of view of his children and wife.
p-stepien
Loosely based on the real life suicide of the late film producer Humbert Balsan, renowned for his backing of Arabian and women cinema, dissects events leading up to the ill-fated death and then presents the personal fallout left in its wake. Appropriately filmed by a woman, director Mia Hansen-Løve stresses the differences by changing the name of the producer to Grégoire Canvel (Louis-Do de Lencquesaing), in part to avoid confusion about the dramatisation, in part out of pure respect.The story places a visible distinction between the before and after, where the key focus is placed on how his wife Sylvia (Chiara Caselli) and three daughters Clemence (Alice de Lencquesaing), Billie (Manelle Driss) and Valentine (Alice Gautier) cope in the aftermath of the suicide caused by financial distress.Fittingly cinephile "Father of my Children" is a slow-paced family drama with a lingering focus on emotions. Life however, unlike in most movies fret with happy endings, just goes on. Attempts to tie up the past are only partially successful, when Sylvia embarks on a mission to finish her husband's legacy by completing unfinished productions only to face harsh realities, that certain things will be forcibly left buried with Grégoire and liquidation is inevitable. A Hollywood closure is unachievable, simply as unrealistic as rescuing a sinking ship. Even family matters are left open-ended, as the daughters struggle to understand how their father could have compulsively done away with himself to ultimately disregard the family that supported him throughout and where a great affection between members is evident. In the end each of them cope on their own, more owed to time passing by, than some profound realisation.Essentially a good movie made in true French style, albeit a low-key affair, which lingers emotionally, but doesn't do much in the way of awakening deeper reaction, despite all-round good performances. The run-length fizzles through gaining some dramatical foothold, but maybe not sufficient given the grave subject matter. Bleak engagement bereft of pull substantially drives down the quality of the experience, as the realism of grieving seems to ask for a more standardised movie language with a distinct culmination.
ihrtfilms
This film has been well reviewed, described as a 'roller-coaster' and emotional, so I was prepared for something quite heavy. However some 30 minutes in, nothing much had happened. The film centers around Gregoire a husband, father and workaholic who runs a film production company that is facing massive financial issues. In between continuous phone calls and business meetings, Gregoire spends time with his family, at their apartment or at the house in the country. The family seem very close and content, but away from this Gregoire is in crisis mode.The start of the film plays outs very slowly, but there is a sense that something tragic will happen. Of course it does, but the effect is less than I would expect. Gregoire's death devastates those around him and his wife is left to pick up the pieces. What should be an emotional, er, roller-coaster fails to engage on an emotional level because while we see Gregoire is up against life, there is no indication that life is so bad that suicide is the answer. There is also no shock element to his death, Gregoire burns some papers then walks along and shoots himself and it all seemed unrealistic.The film also struggles as there is an immense array of pointless scenes: the elder daughter sitting in a cafe ordering a coffee, the family walking around a church in Italy. All of these scenes add nothing except to drag out the story which after the death introduces a secret child and a friendship between the elder daughter and a young man who was to work with her fathers company. Neither of these stories are explored in any detail and so add nothing to the film either.It's a shame that for me the film didn't engage. There are some nice performances, especially from the daughters and the scenes of the family are actually quite endearing. What a loss then that a potentially interesting and emotional story set inside the world of film making is nothing but slow and a little boring.More of my reviews at iheartfilms.weebly.com
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.
