Film Review

09 January 2009 03:33 BST

And When Did You Last See Your Father?

Directed by Anand Tucker, out 5th October in cinemas, starring Jim Broadbent, Colin Firth, Matthew Beard, Juliet Stevenson, Claire Skinner, Elaine Cassidy and Sarah Lancashire.

In a nutshell…

Honest, warm, father and son struggle

What's it about?

And When Did You last See Your Father? begins in the late 1980s with the 40-year-old Blake (Firth), a successful writer married with two children. In most aspects of his life Blake is accomplished, yet still feels resentment towards his boisterous father Arthur (Broadbent). As if to interrupt his life however, Arthur falls ill with cancer and Blake finds he must return to his Yorkshire home to attend to him and his mother Kim (Stevenson).

Blake cannot reconcile the man lying in front of him with the man in his head and he withdraws from him initially, making an effort to keep his distance and not get caught up in the constant circus and drama his father creates. What started as wonder and inquisitiveness at his father's actions in his youth turns into seething teen bitterness, a taste which Blake cannot seem to get out of his mouth decades later.

Blake is still resentful, even of his dad's illness – yet another way in which he has stolen the spotlight and forced the focus upon himself. But at his family home Blake begins to remember the life of the father he knew through his memories of being a young boy in the 1950s and a teenager in the 1960s. His crowding thoughts jostle for his attention and Blake soon finds himself wanting answers from his exuberant father to questions still lingering in his mind. Did his father have an affair and does he have a sister? As Blake tries to uncover the truth he discovers that one can never have all the answers, can never change the past and must forgive and forget to move on.

Who’s in it?

This film is very much a triangle of superb acting from Broadbent, Firth and the lesser known Beard. Broadbent plays Arthur energetically and with vivacity, the actor indistinguishable from the over-bearing and lime-light hogging character he portrays. Firth has the perfect furrowed brow and is able to express more than the emotions needed with sometimes little dialogue. Beard manages to make a cliched role into something fresh and understanding, full of teen anguish and budding bitterness with a maturity that extends his years. Stevenson as Kim is wholly understated and portrays Blake's mother with such poise and reluctant humility that one can't help but feel her pain and Elaine Cassidy does a fine job of playing the mature and often-elusive love interest Sandra.

As an example

"Blake gave me a look like thunder!" - Arthur Morrison

"You should never ever wish anyone dead. What if it became true?" - Sandra

Likelihood of a trip to the Oscars?

It's a beautiful story, wonderfully and understatedly acted however the narrative probably isn't controversial enough. That said, Broadbent is superb and deserves every accolade he will no doubt get.

What the others say

"This is a film you don't expect to be as good as it is or to probe as deeply into feelings practically all of us experience at some time" - Derek Malcolm, Evening Standard

"This emotional story skillfully outlines the author's troubled relationship with his father. While it's beautifully shot and acted, the film is also somewhat indulgent and meandering" - Rich Cline, Real Movie News.com

So is it any good?

What unfolds is an emotionally honest story, taken from the memoirs of the real Blake Morrison and his account of the last days with his father and the memories that wouldn't go away. The film finds itself reflecting the book in its candour and time-traveling structure, flipping between the past and the present easily and carelessly.

Every character is a pleasure to watch and gets filled out more and more throughout the film to the extent which the audience is more than familiar with them. We watch them, understand them, feel for them and in the conclusion, feel as though we could, will be and are them. This is due to the fine performances as much as it is Anand Tucker's direction.

Tucker frequently uses mirrors to distort the focus or shift its view away or towards the camera, allowing us to be privy to stolen glances, lingering looks and cherished conversations. But we are either too close, too far away or not in the right position to clearly see the people in front of us and we aren't always allowed to see the characters from the angle we’d like.

Tucker uses this thoughtfully as a metaphorical reflection of the people closest to us in our own lives, imploring us to see that sometimes the angle in which we see our friends, family, parents and ourselves is not always the one which clearly or best defines who we or they are. In life, we rarely see the other angles and the other sides, just like Blake cannot see the other Arthur unless it's from the father or husband angle.

It is not until the end that the audience sees Blake feeling the pain of losing his father and it’s as if by trying to probe him and investigate his own memories at the same time he is delaying the inevitable. Our parents are often seen as indestructible forces, people that cannot die. When they do we are faced with our own mortality, our own lives and our own, unchangeable pasts.

The journey itself could seem like such a familiar road, being such a well-known and frequently told story, but the beautiful acting and thoughtful direction give And When Did You Last See Your Father? a freshness that resonates well after the credits have come up. A poignant and emotionally honest story that deserves to be seen.

9/10

Louise Cadell

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