You Will Be My Son (2013)
Average Rating: 7.2/10
Reviews Counted: 37
Fresh: 33 | Rotten: 4
Niels Arestrup gives a powerful performance in this tale of familial tension that plays out like a taut, arresting thriller.
Average Rating: 7.5/10
Critic Reviews: 13
Fresh: 12 | Rotten: 1
Niels Arestrup gives a powerful performance in this tale of familial tension that plays out like a taut, arresting thriller.
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Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 2,215
Movie Info
Paul de Marseul (Niels Aretrup) is the passionate, demanding proprietor of his prestigious family wine estate. But he has no faith in his son, Martin (Loran Deutsch), who works at the vineyard. Paul dreams of a harder-working, successful son-a dream that one day seemingly materializes when he meets Philip (Nicolas Bridet), the son of his dying estate manager (Patrick Chesnais). Can Paul turn against his own blood and turn Philip into the rightful heir of his family estate? (c) Cohen Media
Cast
-
Niels Arestrup
Paul de Marseul -
Lorant Deutsch
Martin de Marseul -
Patrick Chesnais
Francois Amelot -
Anne Marivin
Alice, Madeleine Ame... -
Urbain Cancelier
Lacourt dad -
Nicolas Bridet
Philippe Amelot, Phi... -
Valérie Mairesse
Madeleine Amelot -
Jean-Marc Roulot
Dr. Vermont -
Xavier Robic
Lacourt son -
Nicolas Marie
Notary -
Hélène de Saint-Père
Wine Journalist -
Shirley Bousquet
Barmaid
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All Critics (37) | Top Critics (13) | Fresh (33) | Rotten (4)
Mystery lovers will delight in the sophisticated murder scheme, oenophiles will love the Wine Expo atmosphere, and admirers of restrained menace will lose themselves in the icy pools of Arestrup's eyes.
Top CriticHow much you enjoy "You Will Be My Son" depends on how much you can take an unbearable, arrogant jerk as your lead character.
Gilles Legrand's draggy melodrama about miserable characters who persist in their folly and never wise up is strictly vin ordinaire.
French director and co-writer Gilles Legrand shows great mastery of tone and pacing in his third feature, which begins life as a domestic drama set at a family-owned vineyard and slowly morphs into a tense thriller.
A strongly acted, character-driven melodrama, concerned with the dynamics of family in general and father-son issues in particular, it presents situations so emotionally supercharged that the whole story could have come straight out of Balzac.
It's an entertaining melodrama of the old school that plays out with the clockwork inevitability of a "Columbo" episode.
It's both an entertaining drama and a snappy little postcard of France.
Headed by a pungent patriarchal performance by Arestrup. . . in beautiful vineyards. . .how far ambition trumps family ties is unpredictable. . .into a tense tale of revenge.
Everything is explicit; no one makes an unexpected move.
Legrand pays homage to this talent by packaging him with a fine script, a strong supporting cast and a rich production that make this fraught wine world both thrilling and chilling.
You Will Be My Son endlessly spins its wheels, offering up scene after scene of Deutsch screwing up, or just plain existing, and Arestrup tossing deeply disgusted glances in his direction.
The tyranny of fatherhood doesn't have a more intimidating embodiment than Niels Arestrup.
For all of the director's willingness to explore his characters' unexpected depths, he's still hamstrung by his perpetually tasteful cinema-of-quality aesthetic.
...a criss-crossing and parallel father son story with a gruff, larger-than-life performance from the great Arestrup and a highly satisfying unexpected climactic development that's weakened by the extreme difference between de Marseul pere and fils.
The story is Shakespearean in tone and mood as the elder attempts to thwart the younger and the younger fights against his father's maneuverings.
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Foreign Titles
- You Will Be My Son (Tu seras mon fils) (DE)
- You Will Be My Son (Tu seras mon fils) (UK)
"You Will Be My Son" is a compelling and downbeat familial tragedy whose story structure resembles nothing so much as a line of dominoes set into motion. That lack of control extends to how we cannot choose our family, which is Martin's central problem, even though he does love his father after a fashion. Paul not returning that emotion has more to do with his own issues, as he is so vain that he finds disappointment in a son who is not his mirror image.(Paul gives another reason late why he so dislikes his son, but he may have just been trying to get under Martin's skin at that point.) All of which is especially exacerbated by Francois' brush with mortality as questions arise over the next generation in a business where tradition is key.