"A Loving Father" starts with Leo Shepherd(Gerard Depardieu) winning the Nobel Prize for Literature. He plans to ride a motorcycle 1200 miles to Stockholm, disappointing his daughter/manager, Virginia(Sylvie Testud), who wants to accompany him. At the same time, she will not put through the phone calls of his son,
Paul(Guillaume Depardieu), a recovering addict who is putting his life together. So, Paul drives out and intercepts his father on the road, badgering him with questions...and even going so far as to fake his father's death. "A Loving Father" is a thoughtful examination of the creative process that while mildly contrived does not thankfully become one long cliche. It is ironic that Leo who is believed dead is going to accept an award named after Alfred Nobel who was also mistakenly thought dead at one point. While Leo has his good points(he lives the life of a humble farmer and his riding a motorcycle to Stockholm is cool), he was also a horrendous father. Like I have said before, some people should never have children, especially a writer like Leo whose life is his work which is solitary by its nature. As a result, neither Virginia nor Paul is a complete human being, and now that they are adults, they have to take responsibility for and live their own lives, healing the damage suffered in their childhoods. And nobody does unbalanced as well as Sylvie Testud.
December 3, 2007
