''How I Killed My Father'' () is a 2001 French

thriller drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular su ...

directed by

Anne Fontaine Anne Fontaine (born Anne-Fontaine Sibertin-Blanc; 15 July 1959) is a Luxembourgish film director, screenwriter, and former actress. She lives and works in France. Life and career Born Anne-Fontaine Sibertin-Blanc in Luxembourg, sister of actor ...

Plot

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

* Charles Berling as Jean-Luc *

Michel Bouquet Michel François Pierre Bouquet (6 November 1925 – 13 April 2022) was a French stage and film actor. He appeared in more than 100 films from 1947 to 2020. He won the Best Actor European Film Award for '' Toto the Hero'' in 1991 and two Best ...

as Maurice *

Natacha Régnier Nathalie "Natacha" Régnier (born 11 April 1974) is a Belgian actress. She received a Cannes Film Festival Award, a European Film Award, and a César Award for her role in the 1998 film '' The Dreamlife of Angels''. Régnier is the first Bel ...

as Isa * Stéphane Guillon as Patrick *

Amira Casar Amira Casar is a French-British film actress. She was nominated for a César Award for Most Promising Actress for the 1997 film ''La Vérité si je mens !, La Vérité si je mens!'' and also for the Palme d'Or at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival for ...

as Myriem *

Hubert Koundé Hubert Koundé (born December 30, 1970) is a French actor and film director. He is best known for his role as Hubert in the film written and directed by Mathieu Kassovitz. Early life Koundé was born in France in 1970. He is of Beninese origin ...

as Jean-Toussaint * Karole Rocher as Laetitia * François Berléand as The patient

Reception

The

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

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". On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 78 out of 100 based on 18 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Elvis Mitchell Elvis Mitchell (born December 6, 1958) is an American film critic, host of the public radio show ''The Treatment'', and visiting lecturer at Harvard University. He has served as a film critic for the ''Fort Worth Star-Telegram'', the ''LA Weekly ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' said that " he film is akind of murder mystery, but eventually the only victim is the audience's interest -- the picture is uncompromising and inauspicious". Lisa Schwarzbaum of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' commented that " e 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".

Ty Burr Ty Burr (born August 17, 1957) is an American film critic, columnist, and author who reviews films for ''The Washington Post'' and writes the film and popular culture newsletter "Ty Burr's Watchlist". Burr worked as a film critic at ''The Boston ...

of ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'' wrote "Hushed but scalpel-sharp drama, a ilmthat'll probably send men in the audience home much quieter than they arrived".

References

External links

* {{Anne Fontaine 2001 thriller films French thriller films Films directed by Anne Fontaine Films scored by Jocelyn Pook 2000s French-language films 2000s French films Films produced by Philippe Carcassonne Films featuring a Best Actor César Award–winning performance Films featuring a Best Actor Lumières Award–winning performance French-language thriller films