''Father'' is a 1990 film about a retired German immigrant living in Australia, Joe Muller (

Max von Sydow Max von Sydow (; born Carl Adolf von Sydow; 10 April 1929 – 8 March 2020) was a Swedish and French actor. He had a 70-year career in European and American cinema, television, and theatre, appearing in more than 150 films and several television ...

), who is accused by a strange woman named Iya Zetnick (

Julia Blake Julia Blake (born 1937) is a British-Australian actress, notable for numerous film and TV roles, particularly in Australia. She also acted in the theatre. Early life and education Julia Blake was born in 1937 in the United Kingdom. She atte ...

) of being a former

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

who committed war crimes during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. His daughter, Anne Winton ( Carol Drinkwater), is not certain whom to believe. The film was directed by John Power, written by Tony Cavanaugh and Graham Hartley and produced by Barron Entertainment and

Film Victoria VicScreen, formerly known as Film Victoria, is the Victoria State Government's creative and economic screen development agency. It supports screen industry professionals, infrastructure, projects and events, promoting the state of Victoria as ...

. At the 1990 AFI awards,

won the 'Best Actor in a Lead Role' category, and

won the 'Best Actress in a Supporting Role'. The film was also entered into the 17th Moscow International Film Festival.

Cast

as Joe Muller *

as Iya Zetnick * Carol Drinkwater as Anne Winton * Steve Jacobs as Bob Winton * Simone Robertson as Rebecca Winton * Kahli Sneddon as Amy Winton *

Reg Evans Reginald Evans (27 March 1928 – 7 February 2009) was a British-born actor active in Australian radio, theatre, television and cinema from the 1960s, after having started his career in his native England. Early life Evans started drama while ...

as Old Charlie *

Nico Lathouris Nico Lathouris (born 1944) is an Australian actor and writer. He is best known for his roles as George Polides in the 1993 romantic comedy film '' The Heartbreak Kid'' and as George Poulos in the 1994 television teen drama spin-off '' Heartbrea ...

as Amos *

Nicholas Bell Nicholas Bell (born 15 August 1958) is an English actor who has worked in Australia for more than 30 years. Bell works regularly with the Melbourne Theatre Company as well as with all the major television broadcasters in Australia, most notabl ...

as Paul Jamieson *

Tim Robertson Tim Robertson is an Australian actor and writer. Early life Robertson was born in 1944 in Braintree, Essex, in the UK. He relocated to Australia in 1952. He is a graduate of the University of Western Australia (1965). After graduating, he ta ...

as George Coleman * Jon Concannon as Ron * Bianca Briam as Iya Zetnick (age 12) *

Eve von Bibra Eve Sarah von Bibra (born 27 June 1966) is an Australian singer-songwriter and actress. From 1986 to 1991, she was a member of the pop group, Chantoozies, as one of four female lead vocalists. She co-wrote their hit, " Wanna Be Up", which peaked ...

as Roxy * Brenda Addie * Colin Vancao * Nancy Black * Ben Mitchell as Police officer *

Kate Langbroek Katherine Langbroek is an Australian comedian, radio and television presenter. Langbroek currently hosts Nine Network's reality program ''My Mum Your Dad''. She is also a regular presenter on '' The Project'' and co-hosts the show on Tuesday nig ...

as TV reporter * Richard Carter * Robert Morgan as Pub brawler * Tiber Gyapjas

Plot

The film begins with a scene of an open pit full of shot naked bodies somewhere in

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

during the

. A young Iya Zetnick crawls out of the bodies in tears, apparently having survived a massacre. Decades later in modern-day

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Joe Muller and his affable family are introduced. His adult daughter Anne lives with him, and one day she receives a phone call from Iya Zetnick, asking her to ensure she watches a television current affairs show coming up. Joe thinks it concerns a trivial matter about his business, but he and his family are shocked when the show instead links him to the massacre of Iya's family in

. Joe suddenly becomes the centre of attention. His family sticks by him, but some seeds of doubt are sown. Eventually he is arrested and sent to trial, but is found not guilty on account of insufficient

evidence Evidence for a proposition is what supports the proposition. It is usually understood as an indication that the proposition is truth, true. The exact definition and role of evidence vary across different fields. In epistemology, evidence is what J ...

. Still, Anne is now increasingly concerned about her father's past, and confronts him. Iya breaks into their house, armed with a

pistol A pistol is a type of handgun, characterised by a gun barrel, barrel with an integral chamber (firearms), chamber. The word "pistol" derives from the Middle French ''pistolet'' (), meaning a small gun or knife, and first appeared in the Englis ...

. She confronts Anne and her father, and when she is capable of shooting Joe, she shoots herself instead. Anne is left in no doubt about her father's

crimes In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Can ...

, and Joe is left estranged from his family.

References

External links

*
Father at the National Film and Sound ArchiveInterview with John Power and Max Von Sydow from 1990
at SBS Movie Show
''Father''
at Oz Movies Films about Nazi fugitives Australian drama films 1990 drama films 1990 films Films shot in Melbourne 1990s English-language films Films directed by John Power 1990s Australian films {{1990s-drama-film-stub

Cast

Plot

See also

References

External links