My Father My Lord (2008)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:30
Fresh:28
Rotten:2
Average Rating:7.4/10
Consensus: This beautiful Israeli film is both a moving family drama and a potent examination of the trials of faith.
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Reviews for My Father My Lord
| Tomatometer | Critic | Review | Category |
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 6/10 |
Overemphasizes the parents' rigidities in detailed portrait of Ultra-Orthodox, but this family is three-dimensionally human through beautiful hand-held cinematography. Full Review |
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[An] assured, amazing 72-minute debut Israeli film, in which every delicate shot counts for the greater emotional impact. Full Review |
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6/10 |
Unusually intimate portrait of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish family in Jerusalem, from the perspective of a restless young boy, but overemphasizes the parents' rigidities. Full Review |
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3/4 |
An impressive debut by 37-year-old Israeli writer-director David Volach, "My Father My Lord" squeezes more humanity into 72 minutes than most Hollywood movies can muster in two hours or more. Full Review |
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B |
David Volach's understated condemnation of religious extremism makes its points in lethally solemn tones, with neither caricature nor ridicule. Full Review |
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Volach doesn't waste a word or action in his spare, finely crafted screenplay. Full Review |
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3.5/4 |
[Director David] Volach makes every moment count by holding tight close-ups on the faces of his extraordinarily tender, expressive cast, framing them with an elegant beauty. Full Review |
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3/4 |
It's an affecting portrait of family life that gives way to a profound depiction of faith shaken to its roots. Full Review |
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4/5 |
My Father My Lord is an impressive first feature that stands out for its emotional qualities, its ambition and its brevity. In this day of endless epics, this 73-minute Israeli film manages to do a lot with very little time. Full Review |
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3/5 |
A surefooted and frequently touching revisionist retelling of the Abrahamic narrative that, while hardly revolutionary, is certainly evocative and provocative. Full Review |
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A cry of anguish not against Judaism itself but against fundamentalist adherence to the letter rather than the spirit of living well by doing good. Full Review |
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3.5/4 |
David Volach has created a drama that, in retrospect, feels positively biblical. Full Review |
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As sparse as a Torah narrative, it raises profound theological and emotional questions. Full Review |
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B+ |
The believable, full performances of the principal three characters touch the heart and the tragedy [of their story] hits home. Full Review |
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B+ |
The believable, full performances of the principal three characters touch the heart and the tragedy [of their story] hits home. Full Review |
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 1/4 |
A boy questions his father's devout life and teachings. Full Review |
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3/4 |
My Father My Lord lasts just 73 minutes, and I spent the first hour or so wondering what the director-writer, David Volach, was getting at in his nearly plotless feature debut. Full Review |
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3.5/4 |
Writer-director David Volach elegantly shot and scored debut is a bold, intimate look at Israel's extremely insular ultra-Orthodox Jewish, or "Haredic," community, largely seen through the eyes of an intransigent rabbi's young son. Full Review |
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4.5/5 |
My Father My Lord has the glowing simplicity and force of a biblical parable. Full Review |
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The acting here is also worthy, but it's the conversation the film should generate that most excites. Full Review |
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