The Father
Dir. Kristina Grozeva, Petar Valchanov / Dur. 85 mins / Country. Bulgaria-Greece-Italy
Festival Strand:- Laugh
In A Nutshell:- A widower believes that his wife is trying to contact him from the beyond and drags his son along for the ride.
The Good:- While a number of characters pop in and out, it’s very much a two-hander between Vasil (Ivan Savov), the father, and Pavel (Ivan Barnev), the son. While Savov puts in a good performance, I feel like the film really belongs to Barnev as the ultra-deadpan Pavel. It’s largely understated with moments that escalate into ludicrousness such as stealing jam from the police and the unplanned theft of a horse and cart. While dealing with a less-than-fun topic, it does manage to get some good laughs in there (although I’m not sure it;s enough of an out-and-out comedy to be part of the laugh strand). It doesn’t have a plot as such but does manage to tie together the key themes and moments very nicely at the end.
The Bad:- While I understand the decision to not include the Pavel’s wife other than in voiceover (although apparently a scene with her in person was shot) as the focus is on the father and son relationship, it does make the character little more than a cipher, serving the needs of propelling Pavel along.
The Verdict:- Another solidly enjoyable slice and a good example of the sort of film that I probably wouldn't have been aware of if not for the festival.
The Venue / Intro / Q&A:- First film of the festival actually at the BFI! I’ve only got a few screenings there so it does feel a little bit less like I live there…
Co-writer / co-director Petar Valchanov along with additional writer Decho Taralezhkov were the ones in attendance. They talked a bit about how they incorporated a continuity mistake into the fabric of the movie (Pavel wearing slipper instead of shoes in one of the external scenes) and, when asked how representative this was of the Bulgarian sense of humour, how this definitely wouldn't be a mainstream comedy in Bulgaria. They also talked about the film was inspired by a real life incident involving a phone call from the writer/director’s dead mother.
One side note - the main behind me had obviously decided that, as this was a comedy, he needed to laugh at everything, including one line that was deadly serious (or maybe he’d just been to see Joker...)
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