FATHER MOTHER SISTER BROTHER Reviewed by GREG KING
Director: Jim Jarmusch
Stars: Tom Waits, Adam Driver, Mayim Bialik, Charlotte Rampling, Cate Blanchett, Vicky Krieps, Indya Moore, Luka Sabbat.
The title basically says all you need to know about this latest film from auteur Jim Jarmusch, his fourteenth feature. The film is an exploration of family dynamics and the complex relationship between parents and their estranged adult children, which is often shaped by guilt, lies, selfishness, unresolved issues, generational disconnects, and misunderstandings.
The film is essentially a triptych – three stories set in different countries and following the relationship between three different pairs of siblings and their parents. There are no obvious links between the three stories, although there are thematic links and several recurring motifs – uncomfortable and awkward silences, a Rolex watch, drinking tea, references to drinking water, the phrase “Bob’s your uncle” and random skateboarders. Another recurring image is that of overhead shots of tables carefully laid out with food and drinks.
In the first story Emily (Mayim Bialik, from The Big Bang Theory and former Jeopardy host) and her brother Jeff (Adam Driver, in his third film for Jarmusch) visit their eccentric and supposedly cash-strapped father (Tom Waits, a regular in Jarmusch’s films) at his remote property in New Jersey. They have come to check up on him because he seems to have been struggling recently. They are concerned with how he is surviving and coping since the death of their mother. But he is concealing the truth from them.
The second story is set in Dublin. Sisters Timothea (Cate Blanchett) and more free spirited Lilith (an almost unrecogniseable Vicky Krieps) visit their aloof mother (Charlotte Rampling), a famous author, for their annual afternoon tea. But the tension between the three is palpable.
The final story takes place in Paris and is, arguably, the least interesting of the three. Twins Skye (Indya Moore, from Escape Room: Tournament Of Champions, etc) and Billy (Luka Sabbat, from Jarmusch’s The Dead Don’t Die, etc) are mourning their parents who were recently killed in a plane crash. While cleaning out their apartment and working out what to do with their possessions they struggle with their emotions and experience mixed feelings.
As usual Jarmusch employs a typically idiosyncratic and minimalist approach to his filmmaking and there is a lack of narrative urgency. The film itself is driven more by a palpable sense of melancholy. Jarmusch’s dialogue is typically witty, droll and enigmatic, and often delivered in deadpan fashion by a stellar cast. The audience is often asked to read between the lines to discern what is being left unsaid by the characters.
Jarmusch has assembled a superb ensemble cast to flesh out these characters. Driver brings restraint to his role as the naïve Jeff. Waits has a suitably grizzled and enigmatic presence, and brings a nice mix of pathos and humour to his performance. Rampling does imperious like few others. Blanchett is good as the emotionally bottled-up Timothea who is reluctant to share personal details.
Cinematographers Frederick Elmes (a regular collaborator) and Yorick Le Saux (Personal Shopper, etc) give us some great images, particularly in the first and third segments which gave us a strong sense of place. There is some great production design from Marco Bittner Rosser (Tar, etc) and Mark Freidberg (Caught Stealing, etc), which creates the interiors that are impersonal and somehow reflect the emotional landscape of the various characters.
A cinematic oddity that will mainly appeal to Jarmusch completists.
★★★
