How I Killed My Father

How I Killed My Father (French: Comment j'ai tué mon père) is a 2001 French thriller drama film directed by Anne Fontaine.

How I Killed My Father
French film poster
Directed byAnne Fontaine
Written byJacques Fieschi
Anne Fontaine
Produced byPhilippe Carcassonne
StarringCharles Berling
Michel Bouquet
Natacha Régnier
CinematographyJean-Marc Fabre
Edited byGuy Lecorne
Music byJocelyn Pook
Production
companies
Distributed byPathé (France)
New Yorker Films (USA)
Release dates
  • 8 August 2001 (2001-08-08) (Locarno)
  • 19 September 2001 (2001-09-19) (France)
Running time
98 minutes
CountryFrance
LanguageFrench
Budget$5.2 million[1]
Box office$1.7 million[2]

Plot

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Jean-Luc, an established gerontologist, has not had any contact with his father, Maurice, for many years and thinks he is dead. Jean-Luc lost touch when his father left his family to work as a physician in Africa.

Without notice, the father reappears. He is bankrupt and moves into his son's home for several days. He annoys Jean-Luc with compliments that sound like accusations. Or is it Jean-Luc that always hears irony? His wife likes the senior immediately, and even Jean-Luc's younger brother accepts him. Jean-Luc would like to kill his father but...

Cast

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Reception

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The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 89% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 44 reviews, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "How I Killed My Father is a penetrating character study of father-son ties".[3] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 78 out of 100 based on 18 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[4]

Elvis Mitchell of The New York Times said that "[the film is a] kind of murder mystery, but eventually the only victim is the audience's interest -- the picture is uncompromising and inauspicious".[5]

Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly commented that "[t]he script is a steady accretion of small stabs to the heart, propelling the gorgeous performances of Berling, Regnier, and especially the 76-year-old French cinema veteran Bouquet, whose every faint smile is killing".[6]

Ty Burr of The Boston Globe wrote "Hushed but scalpel-sharp drama, a [film] that'll probably send men in the audience home much quieter than they arrived".[7]

References

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  1. ^ JP. "Comment j\'ai tué mon père (How I Killed My Father) (2001)- JPBox-Office". jpbox-office.com. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  2. ^ "Comment j'ai tué mon père". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  3. ^ "How I Killed My Father (2001)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  4. ^ "How I Killed My Father Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  5. ^ Mitchell, Elvis (August 23, 2002). "Film Review: Turning Up Unexpectedly, Old Dad is Far From Dead". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  6. ^ Schwarzbaum, Lisa (March 17, 2020). "How I Killed My Father". Entertainment Weekly.
  7. ^ Burr,Ty (December 19, 2003). "This 'Father' poses a frightening figure". The Boston Globe. Boston.com. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
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