Father Mother Sister Brother

This one is for the people that want a film to do absolutely nothing to them. No story beyond a premise, no emotion beyond understanding who the character is. It's like a Lanthimos film if Lanthimos was on a lethal dose of Prozac. Perfect to talk over. A scam of a ticket. Three stories that connect on absolutely nothing beyond "family".

Who are/were our parents? This is the question that's trying to be answered in three different ways in director Jim Jarmusch's character dramedy FATHER MOTHER BROTHER SISTER. This movie features three different stories with similar themes of family. First, we have the Father (Tom Waits), who has his son (Adam Driver) and daughter (Mayim Bialik) for a very rare visit in New Jersey. This was my favorite of the three. Waits is hilarious. The second story is pretty similar. A mother (Charlotte Rampling) has her two daughters Timothea (Cate Blanchett) and Lilith (Vicky Krieps) over for their annual tea visit in Dublin. The final story has fraternal twins Skye (Indya Moore) and Billy (Luka Sabbat) go through their recently deceased parents in Paris. I enjoyed this movie. It's very artistic, the highlight being the cinematography. It felt pretty special hearing Frederick Elmes, the co-cinematographer himself talk about this movie before it began. Anthology movies are hard to make, usually there's one segment that's weaker than the others. This is the case with this movie, but I'm not saying it's bad. The quality is just uneven. I enjoyed the writing, especially the awkward dry humour and the specific similarities between the stories. It's a pretty quiet movie, I don't even think there's a score. There are no dramatic moments or action. I can tell Jarmusch enjoys filming from inside cars. This might not be for everybody, but I definitely liked the unique triptych that is FATHER MOTHER SISTER BROTHER.

Practically three short stories about a Father alone in the woods, a Famous Writer and her daughters annual tea party and a brother and sister - facing the remains of their parents after they had died recently on an accident.

Something about this spoke to me. It is, in the end, a film about connecting to each other in a familial way - the unspoken and unbreakable bond, even when there is so much problems, disagreement and resentments. Clearly, the family in this film is not really those kind of family where you'd rather not talk to anymore BUT I felt there is a level of tension that I feel is very common and lived-in. The sense of siblings trying to one-up each other in subtle ways, an insecurity on wealth and personal strength in connection told in such a loose fashion that can border towards corny. (lol).

It does help that the anthology sections are all well made and nothing really pops off as particularly special, though I prefer Mother > Father then Siblings. So when, I looked back - I do not have any strong negative reactions to any sections and neither do any strong ones that it makes the others feels out of place. The light breezy silliness is maintained and that corny joke was repeated three times to create this illusion of universality - which by the way, I still do not know if is actually a sensible joke as the film tries to make lol.

Otherwise, this is not a performance or a particularly 'directed' film though (even with big starts at that), so there is subtle emotions but do not expect anything big or abrupt. It just is actually is a feeling of being in a small family function with even lesser tension amongst the sibling. The vision is clear and precise but nothing special. It was just a great production on top of great performance.

Recommended.

The film is divided into three segments of varying quality. It starts strong with Tom Waits in a hilarious role as the father. It continues with Charlotte Rampling's segment as the mother (perhaps the least inspired) and ends with two twin brothers. For me, the film speaks to the human rituals that bring us together, like sitting down at a table and having coffee-universal, secular ceremonies. It explores the affection, lies, and truths that exist in family relationships, the image we create for others, and the profound ignorance we sometimes have about our own families. I think it's an interesting film, although the tone is too languid and quiet, with so many silences, and it's difficult to stay awake in the theater with the lights off and no soundtrack. It's not a bad film, but it could have been much better.

Watched this new Jarmusch movie at NYFF. It is a quintessential Jarmusch movie capturing fraught family relationships in a poetic fashion. It comprises of 3 vignettes- all separate but interconnected in subtle themes and props. It has the dry humor and slow steady pace once is accustomed to see in his films. It explores the closest of family connections and how they grow distant with time. It is also about loneliness and the facade we put up to disguise it from our close ones. A highly recommended movie for all Jarmusch fans.