I hadn't heard anything about this film before i watched it and clearly didn't know what to expect.
The aspect that probably caught my attention to even bother watching this was the relationship between father and son. Growing up to never truely having that, i wanted to see what this was about.
Romulus, My Father shows of life in Australia during the 1960s. A young Raimond Gaita struggles to maintain his innocence while watching his father Romulus confront the bipolar realities of his mother, Christina.
Entering his adolescence on his fathers farm under the watch of his uncle Hora, Raimond is forced to assume the caretaker role when the mental stability of his parents comes crashing down, revealing his parents as the fragile human beings they always were.
It's a touching story that is sometimes difficult to watch in parts. I would recommend it to the majority of mature minded people out there.
ROMULUS, MY FATHER is based on Raimond Gaita's critically acclaimed memoir. It tells the story of Romulus, his beautiful wife, Christina, and their struggle in the face of great adversity to bring up their son, Raimond.
It is the tale of a boy trying to balance a universe described by his deeply moral father, against the experience of heartbreaking absence and neglect from a depressive mother. It is, ultimately, a story of impossible love that celebrates the unbreakable bond between father and son.
I fell asleep during this one, so I really shouldn't judge it. Maybe it was because I saw it at the end of the film festival and was ridiculously tired, but I usually don't fall asleep during movies I love, so this can't have been very good. From what I remember, it was an insufferably slow take on a rural Australian family, very melodramatic and told through the eyes of the son. I really want to like Eric Bana, he's a great actor, but he has yet to make a movie I really like. He should get a new agent. Zzzzzzzzzz.
Duygusal bir donem ve atmosfer filmi izleme beklentisiyle oturmustum ekranin basina. Ama bu sefer spoiler olmasina kulak asmadan yazacagim: Filmdeki tavuk katliamiyla baslayan hayal kirikligim, goz gore gore aldatilan kocanin bir cesit piskinligiyle hayrete, en sonunda da filmin duygu namina hicbir sey birakmamasiyla tam bir bosluga donustu. Filmde basarili buldugum, sepia tonlarla yansitilan donem atmosferi ile cocuk oyuncunun performansiydi. Bu gercek yasam oykusu, elbette yasayan(lar) acisindan aci verici ve (bence) yasami butunuyle etkileyici.. Filmdeki kucuk cocuk Raimond Gaita'nin buyuyunce felsefe profesoru olmasinda, cocukluk gunlerinde yasadigi siradisiliklarin ve travmalarin da etkisi vardir diye dusunuyorum.
A solid drama entailing the rite of passage for a boy in an adult world where financial difficulty and relationships strain. A boy learns from his father, and supports himself and others beyond compare whilst a family around him falls apart. Sad but brilliant with great cut scenes of the director's great flair. A must see for Australian films, one of 2007's best.
Heart-breaking. Traditional drama at its finest and most refined. This hails back to the family stories of old, and both Bana and Smit-McPhee are exceptional in their performances.
You won't find more emotional depth in another Australian film of 2007.
A beautiful story about a man and his wife who struggle to raise their son; the father being admirable and the mother being absent. It demonstrates the bonds of love. Brilliant script!
A very sad, touching film with fantastic performances by Bana, Csokas and newcomer Kodi Smit-McPhee, who achieves adorableness without being annoying. The cinematography is amazing, and some of the scenes are heartbreaking and disturbing at the same time.
ROMULUS, MY FATHER is based on Raimond Gaita's critically acclaimed memoir. It tells the story of Romulus, his beautiful wife, Christina, and their struggle in the face of great adversity to bring up their son, Raimond. It is a story of impossible love that ultimately celebrates the unbreakable bond between father and son. The acting throughout is superb, especially by the young Raimond, its heartfelt and thoroughly engaging! Top that with stunning photography and scenery and i was more than impressed!
Australian actor Richard Roxburgh's directorial debut is a beautifully crafted and very rich adaptation of Raimond Gaita's autobiographical novel (which I haven't read myself) about his childhood growing up in the Australian outback with his separated immigrant parents (who each suffer from either mental illness and depression). Not only is this the best Australian film I have seen this year this but without a doubt would also be one of the films of the year as well, it is absolutely perfect in everyway. The entire cast is excellent: Eric Bana, Franka Potente and Marton Csokas each deliver flawless, pitch-perfect performances but the best performance belongs to young Kodi Smit-McPhee who plays Gaita as a young boy, he gives one of the best performances I have seen from a child actor in a long time (its no surprised that he won the role of young version of "Logan" in the upcoming "X-Men" spin-off "Wolverine"). Roxburgh's direction is terrific, the script is superb and the production/costume design is beautifully detailed. It could have easily have become a cheesy sentimental "T.V. movie of the week" if it were put in the wrong hands but Roxburgh brings a much subtle approach which works beautifully. Overall this is an excellent and very moving Aussie film that I highly recommend everyone to watch. Again, one of the best films of the year!
A long, sad film; Romulus, my father is a heartbreaking tale with some spectacular scenery, great perfmances and gripping cinematography. However it's melancholic tale really does bring it down.
Excellent, magnificent and emotional true story of the author Raimond Gaita's childhood of impossible love that celebrates the unbreakable bond between father and son. Eric Bana makes an astonishing performance as Raimond's father, Romulus, and for Richard Roxburgh in his directing debut.
A beautiful recount of a family of migrants and their battle to get by in the bleak farmlands in Frogmore. It shows a young boys internal struggle to come to terms with the situations he comes to face in his childhood - alongside his depressive mother & harsh but caring father. Some beautiful filming and breathtaking outback scenes. I found Kodi Smit-McPhee's performace outstanding for such a young boy - he is very talented.
Excellent performances and beautifully shot film. It shows that the early sixities weren't all Austin Powers-like psychedelica. In fact, for most people, life was a struggle that wasn't too disimilar to the 1950s it was replacing, especially in country and regional areas. In this film, we see this from the point of view of a family that moved to Australia as part of the post-war migration, and the way they struggle with their various internal and external pressures. But what shines through is loyalty, love and friendship despite hardship and tragedy, and the intrinsic difficulty and complexity in human relationships.
I fairly good movie. The acting was nothing other than supurb, but I felt the plot was lacking just a little momentum. For me it just didnt have that spark of brillience that I was expecting. Still a great Australian movie and really worth watching.
An amazingly heart-warming and tear-jerking movie. Stellar performances from EVERYONE (including Franka Potente, who I'm not a big fan of). But Kodi Smit-McPhee was the big surprise. Boy, that kid has a career ahead of him...unless he's like Keisha Castle-Hughes who was also totally amazing in Whale Rider.
It is a very depressing film, given the broken and worn characters, the money situation and the dry, bleak outback setting of Australia. It was, however, superbly acted (pretty much by everyone involved) and was heart breaking in parts. Good to see a quality film come out of Australia every once in a while.
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MCT:December 5, 2007
