I’m the Father (Vater) | Review

Film captures a father’s desperation.

As a result of the successful Run Lola Run’s of German independent cinema, German actor, writer, and director Dani Levy rolls out a screenplay that will strike a cord with German audiences whom might not want to see Das Experiment for a zwei-th time. They don’t call it the “7 year itch” for nothing- Levy brings to us a modernized Kramer vs Kramer in form of Vater- I’m the Father- this film is about the daunting task of raising a family and not knowing how to patch the cracking foundations of a family in distress.

You’ve just got to love an intro that begins with the early weekday morning rush-especially when the alarm clock fails to go off… given to us in a rush of images our small German family is the classic example of a two-parent system trying to make ends meet while at the same time doing the hardest job on the planet-raising a child named Benny. Melanie (Maria Schrader -Aimée & Jaguar) and Marco (Sebastian Blomberg) are a tight family unit, waiting for the big break to happen- Marco’s career is about to take off and living between paychecks will soon become a thing of the past-but what will this new, even more hectic lifestyle bring to the family?

Levy gives us a viewer dynamic drama here-treated with a filmic sensitivity, the characters bring their emotional weight to the celluloid. Shot in digital, the camera follows a narrative that goes right into the juice of life…arguments and the more happy moments of couple hood are the basis for this small picture. The actors really bring the characters to life-you feel the anxiety and the stress of the father perforate through the screen. There are plenty of nice moments are balanced throughout the act-namely a beer between father and son and the film’s most touching moment where a father shows his son how many days he has spent with him- with a simple arithmetic equation demonstrated by the aid of pebbles.

I’m the Father is the small non-Hollywood type of film that speaks large volumes about what desperate people are willing to do for loved ones-Levy delivers a simple, yet touching portrait that is well worth seeing-if you are lucky enough.

Viewed in with English subtitles.

Rating 3.5 stars