vernon film society
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WHEN DID YOU LAST SEE YOUR FATHER?
Director: Anand Tucker
Cast: Colin Firth, Jim Broadbent, Juliet Stevenson, Gina McKee, Claire Skinner
Run Time: 92 minutes
Country: Ireland/United Kingdom
Year: 2007
Language: English
Rating: PG (Sexually suggestive scenes, coarse language)
Reviews: www.metacritic.com/film/titles/andwhendidyoulastseeyourfather
Official Site: www.sonyclassics.com/whendidyoulastseeyourfather
Premiering as a Special Presentation at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival®, When Did You Last See Your Father? moved audiences with its emotionally riveting story. Award-winning director Anand Tucker (revered for Hilary and Jackie and Shopgirl), a Festival regular, here delivers a deeply affecting story about coming to terms with the sins of ancestors.
At once heart-rending and beautiful, When Did You Last See Your Father? revolves around profound characters who carry intense emotions deep beneath an illusory motionless surface. The story begins with Blake, (Colin Firth, Bridget Jones’s Diary, Where the Truth Lies), an introverted man attempting to make peace with his overbearing, egotistical father. When the latter is suddenly struck down by illness, Blake flashes back to the conservative England of the 1950s, when Blake was a sensitive eight-year-old who already had come to see his father, Arthur (Jim Broadbent, The Chronicles of Narnia, Hot Fuzz), as a tyrant. The past continues to unfold, revealing Arthur to be a self-centered man caring little for other’s perceptions of him and manipulating any circumstance to his own benefit. Blake in turn suffers through awkwardly painful family events, never knowing the approval of his father. Dominated by Arthur’s personality throughout his life, Blake gradually learns to compensate for his shortcomings.
Upon the revelation that his father is terminally ill, the adult Blake is compelled to confront the difficult history that prevented any meaningful connection between the two. Coincidentally, Blake comes to understand that in his own clumsy and offensive way, Arthur was doing his best to show his son he loved him.
What sets Tucker’s story apart from the rest is the unflinching devastating realism that is portrayed as Arthur’s health deteriorates and Blake struggles to mend the wounds of the past. When Did You Last See Your Father? avoids sentimentality in favour of a hard-hitting meditation on regret and the uneasy but powerful bond between fathers and sons.
“Jim Broadbent and Colin Firth demonstrate once again the magic and majesty of finely etched British acting. Backed by a solid support cast, their performances are deeply felt and cagily detailed.” - Chicago Tribune
“This is Broadbent's picture to steal and, playing the father through several decades, he takes full advantage; his theft is effortlessly skilled.” - Globe and Mail
