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Reviews
Le père de mes enfants (2009)
Good Film
This film gave me the kind of experience I hope for when watching French movies: A character driven, intimate story, which so involved me that I feel as if I'd been away on a trip to France. The performances were authentic & lean. The scenery, both interior shots of apartments & buildings, as well as exterior shots of street life, made me feel as if I was in Paris. I was engrossed as to how the characters reacted to the heavy subject matter & how the story line progressed. The film has great depth without feeling heavy.
A reviewer here on IMDb commented about how they didn't like the scenes which were not driving the story line, but for me, that's what I love about (some) French Cinema: a character walks from point A to point B or a character orders coffee while awaiting an important appointment. These connecting scenes are the stuff of real life & enable the viewer to identify with the character. Everyone experiences those mundane moments & knows what it feels like.
Except for the main character Gregoire, I did not judge the reactions of the other characters: I simply observed their reactions to the serious events that befell them.
The final scene was darkly humorous: Doris Day sings "Que Sera, Sera" as the characters flee Paris, leaving behind the life they had loved.