The Father of My Children (Le pere de mes enfants) (2008)

91% of critics liked it
(55 reviews)
58% of users liked it
(1,015 ratings)

A family is forced to learn a painful lesson about the man of the house in this drama from director Mia Hansen-Løve. Grégoire Canvel (Louis-Do de Lencquesaing) is an independent film producer who runs a well-respected production company, Moon Films. For Grégoire, to work is to live, and while he… More A family is forced to learn a painful lesson about the man of the house in this drama from director Mia Hansen-Løve. Grégoire Canvel (Louis-Do de Lencquesaing) is an independent film producer who runs a well-respected production company, Moon Films. For Grégoire, to work is to live, and while he loves his wife, Sylvia (Chiara Caselli), and their three daughters, Clemence (Alice de Lencquesaing), Valentine (Alice Gautier), and Billie (Manelle Driss), during the week he's practically a stranger to them. Grégoire makes a point of spending each weekend with his family at their cottage in the country, but even then separating him from his cell phone is all but impossible, and Sylvia and the girls are reaching the end of their patience with Grégoire and his obsession with work. Though there's no question that Grégoire is devoted to Moon Films, he's kept a secret from Sylvia and his daughters about the state of the company, and it's not until a sudden, desperate act forces Sylvia into leadership of the company that they come to understand the real reasons behind his unrelenting schedule. Le Père de Mes Enfants (aka The Father of My Children) was an official selection at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, where it was screened as part of the "Un Certain Regard" program. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 52 min.
Directed By: Mia Hansen-Løve
Written By: Mia Hansen-Løve
Genres: Art House & International, Drama

In Theaters: May 28, 2010 Wide
On DVD: Jun 21, 2010
Studio: IFC Films

Critic Reviews

Stephen Cole, Globe and Mail
The film is achieved with a rare tenderness and grace by 29-year-old French actress-filmmaker Mia Hanson-Love.
David Roark, Dallas Morning News
While the movie is far from perfect, those potential missteps are, in the end, part of what makes The Father of My Children so beautiful.
Kirk Honeycutt, Hollywood Reporter
A modest drama about a suicide and its aftermath that never quite moves an audience as it should.
Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle
A subtle work on an exceedingly difficult subject.
James Berardinelli, ReelViews
The Father of My Children is exceptional drama. Compelling and unforced, it shows sensitivity and evenhandedness in approaching a difficult subject.
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer
It is a film about children and their parents, and not knowing where fate, or life, can take you.
Nick Schager, Lessons of Darkness
Draws one in both empathetically and suspensefully.
Liz Braun, Jam! Movies
A heartbreaking fable about life, legacy and the way men define themselves through their work.
Norman Wilner, NOW Toronto
It's quiet, unshowy and devastating.
Julie Rigg, MovieTime, ABC Radio National
It's a very intelligent film this, and one I think which is not just revealing about film-making but has insights into the dilemmas of many others who see the businesses -- or indeed family farms -- they have built up over a lifetime going under.
Paul Byrnes, Sydney Morning Herald
There's a lot of intelligence and humanity in the script and it follows its own path. [Hansen-Løve's] direction shows rare confidence and poise, a willingness to build characters slowly, with a natural flow of time.
Leigh Paatsch, Herald Sun (Australia)
French drama Father of My Children addresses an extremely confronting subject with both an unblinking gaze and an open mind.
Craig Mathieson, sbs.com.au
Inception celebrates the manufactured reality, Father of My Children the true one.
Margaret Pomeranz, At the Movies (Australia)
What makes it a wonderful film is that for those of us inside this crazy dream factory, and we're only on the edges, it depicts the relentless nature of the beast, the roller-coaster ride, the unstoppable nature of a film in production.
Beth Wilson, Trespass
The subtle, tender sadness of the film trumps any of its small scripting problems and certainly marks out not only the film's young cast members but also the director as ones to watch.
Matthew Toomey, ABC Radio Brisbane
Mia Hansen-Løve deserves credit both as a writer and a director. This is a very convincing drama.
Alice Tynan, Concrete Playground
Fresh-faced performances and tender writing makes for a family who jumps straight off the screen and into your heart.
Louise Keller, Urban Cinefile
This delicate and beautiful film about the highs and lows of a close-knit family takes us on an emotional journey in which we experience joy, laughter, sorrow and contemplation.
Frank Swietek, One Guy's Opinion
A film that portrays a subject that could easily have become cloying with an austere, penetrating eye.

Read all 19 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Jim H

A man with a troubled professional life and an idyllic personal life is forced to re-evaluate his life. An hour into this film, there's an event which defines all that came before and comes after. But since the Flixster synopsis doesn't give it away (even though the Netflix… More
A man with a troubled professional life and an idyllic personal life is forced to re-evaluate his life. An hour into this film, there's an event which defines all that came before and comes after. But since the Flixster synopsis doesn't give it away (even though the Netflix synopsis does), I won't reveal it here. What I can say is that the film is thoroughly uninteresting for the first hour, but afterward it finds its focus and comes to a fairly satisfactory resolution. The film seems to be saying that any attempts we make in order to find meaning and existential security in our professional lives are not as satisfying as what we ignore in our personal lives. Overall, <i>Father of My Children</i> is poorly constructed and not well paced (the event an hour into it should have begun the film), but I ended up respecting it even if I couldn't like it.
Cynthia S

One of those films that critics love, I guess. For me....ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Gordon A

Expertly crafted French drama with naturalistic child performances which is let down by the central conceit not being believably built up.
Mark A

An excellent treatment of a difficult subject that was all the more personal for this viewer because of the recent suicide of someone he thought he knew fairly well. Gregoire Canvel (Louis-Do de Lencquesaing) is a somewhat successful movie producer who has made some questionable… More
An excellent treatment of a difficult subject that was all the more personal for this viewer because of the recent suicide of someone he thought he knew fairly well. Gregoire Canvel (Louis-Do de Lencquesaing) is a somewhat successful movie producer who has made some questionable decisions that have left his empire vulnerable. The first half of the film sets up the situation so that the audience understands why he would find himself in such a dark place, but he keeps all of this somewhat hidden from his wife, Sylvia (Chiara Caselli) and his children. The last half of the film shows those affected by this ultimately selfish act dealing with the fallout. Of particular note was the performance by Alice de Lencquesang as his eldest daughter, Clemence. She managed to make the audience feel her pain without resorting to melodrama. One gets the feeling that she suppressed her rage and despair in order to appear brave for her mother and her sisters, yet her pain was evident in the smallest of gestures. All of the actors were marvelous in this and quite believable. The scenes in Paris evoked life in a vibrant city, while those at the various shooting locations of the films Gregoire was producing helped the audience feel his world shutting down on him. The action is slow, but purposely so. This is not a subject that lends itself to rapid-fire jump cuts and action sequences. Only by allowing the story to emerge as it did here can we find anywhere to attach the strong emotions this created. This was a sad story, but it never wallowed in the sadness. One gets the sense that life goes on for those who remain, as it must.
Walter M

In "Father of My Children," Sylvie(Chiara Caselli) patiently waits for her husband Gregoire(Louis-Do de Lencquesaing), a film producer, to come to their country home where she is at with their three daughters. She may have to wait a while due to all the meetings and phone… More
In "Father of My Children," Sylvie(Chiara Caselli) patiently waits for her husband Gregoire(Louis-Do de Lencquesaing), a film producer, to come to their country home where she is at with their three daughters. She may have to wait a while due to all the meetings and phone calls he has to take. However, it is not talking on a cell phone while driving that gets him pulled over by the police. It is speeding and not wearing a seat belt. Admittedly, he is going to have to move quickly if he wants to save his production company, Moon Films, which has a lot in stake on the production of a Swedish film, "Saturn." For its first half, "Father of My Children" is a compelling portrait of self-destruction, as Gregoire finds himself falling deeper and and deeper into a hole. At the same time, it may be the only sympathetic portrayal of a film producer on record. Usually, they are depicted in a range from philistine pains to Satan("Contempt.") But in the second half, the movie unsuccessfully tries to bring closure, adding an unnecessary subplot to the brew. Personally, I would have gone darker but that's why I'm not a film producer. I lack commercial instincts and would probably only try to fund three hour Hungarian epics. And from what I can see of clips from Gregoire's films, his instincts might be similar which is what got him into the mess in the first place.
Daniel P

A beautiful film concerning a father's denial and then desperation as his production company gets deeper and deeper into the red, and the gradual and eventually all encompassing effect this has on his family. An abrupt and shocking but nonetheless truthful turn of events half-way… More
A beautiful film concerning a father's denial and then desperation as his production company gets deeper and deeper into the red, and the gradual and eventually all encompassing effect this has on his family. An abrupt and shocking but nonetheless truthful turn of events half-way through shifts all the dynamics but Mia Hansen-Løve's humanistic script and plotting and deceptively simple direction is never disruptive. Strong, naturalistic performances across the board (especially from the three children). A perceptive, moving and deeply profound piece of French cinema.