Father

Set wholly in or within the grounds of a rambling, semi-derelict old mansion outside San Sebastian, this calm, measured, visually very beautiful blend of documentary, fiction and archive footage bears some resemblance to Tsai Ming-liang’s ‘Goodbye Dragon Inn' and Jose Luis Guerín’s ‘Train of Shadows’, but is amply rewarding in its own right. It takes a while to find out who the various people visiting and working in the house are, and as long to learn about the building itself, but a series of brief, often pawkily amusing conversations between two of the men comes slowly to focus on themes related to death, faith and the possibility of ongoing life: certainly the house, thanks to cinema, is alive with the ghosts of Basque history. Experimental but very accessible and humane, and quietly affecting.