19 July 2021

Anne Fontaine's Comment j'ai tué mon père | How I Killed My Father (2001)

Maurice (Michel Bouquet) is the prodigal father who suddenly, unnannounced, returns to see his wildly rich son Jean-Luc (Charles Berling), who has a gerontoloogy practice in Versailles. His other son Patrick (Stépane Guillon) hardly remembers his father because he was only about four at the time his father left, and that must have been about twenty years before. Patrick's life is very different from his brother's, and he is his chauffeur also working as a stand-up comedian in clubs.

The tension is palpable here as Jean-Luc sees his father as a threat while he temporarily stays with the family, although Jean-Luc's wife Isa (Natacha Régnier) quickly warms to him. Both of them are doctors, although whereas Jean-Luc has grown affluent pandering to the whims of rich, elderly patients, Maurice has been aiding the poor in Africa. Something has to give, although the ending is far from clear.

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