The Father of My Children

A passionate independent film producer struggles with anxiety and despair as the pressures of his work become too much for him, in Mia Hansen-Løve’s understated drama. (2009)

At 29, former Cahiers du Cinema critic Mia Hansen-Løve has already directed two features, yet her cinematic eye has all the sensibility of a director who has honed her craft for decades. The Father of My children is a movie of two parts. It initially focuses on the hectic life of a father Grégoire (Louis-Do de Lencquesaing) struggling to intermingle his work and family life. This leads to distressing consequences, which Hansen-Løve explores for the reminder of the film. The tale was inspired by the life and tragic death of French producer Humbert Balsan, whose analogue Grégoire in Hansen-Løve’s movie, is a man determined to follow out his goal of producing uncompromising art house cinema to the bitter end. Not only does the film portray the cut throat nature of the film business, similar in sense to Godard’s Le Mépris, this film also serves as a compassionate reminder of the imprint we leave on people in life and in death. Mia Hansen-Løve was rewarded Un Certain Regard at Cannes, as well as Prix Lumière, for best screenplay.