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Father of My Children (2009)

Director: Mia Hansen-Løve

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From Time Out Film Guide

Inspired by the death in 2005 of French producer Humbert Balsan, Hansen’s second feature is a fictional portrait of Grégoire Canvel (Louis-Do de Lencquesing), a suave but harried producer whose buzzy Paris office boasts posters of past successes (at least one of them a Cannes Palme d’Or winner). The first half balances a sympathetic, very plausible study of Canvel’s enviable professional and personal lives with his unenviable and increasing inability to keep a grip on either. The second follows the fallout from a sudden tragedy, and it’s this section that proves less successful as writer/director Mia Hansen-Løve seems unsure on which aspect of Canvel’s life to focus. That said, there’s a lightness of touch to her handling of tragic, emotional material that falls pleasingly between the scientific and the mawkish.

Author: Dave Calhoun 2009-09-18 17:07:56

Time Out Film Guide

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Father of My Children
BFI 53rd London Fim Festival. 14-29 Oct 2009

Cast & crew

Director: Mia Hansen-Løve

Cast: Chiara Caselli, Louis-Do de Lencquesaing, Alice de Lencquesaing full cast

Genre(s): Drama

Duration: 110 mins


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