In Memory of My Father

I had the good fortune to enjoy a Q and A with the filmmaker tonight.

I enjoyed this films honesty and its refreshing perspective of the tiresome subject of human relationships fusion bombing against a bereavement backdrop EI (Big chill,Magnolia). This guy has a gift for what to edit out and show some confidence in his audiences imagination. I could not thank him more for keeping the dialog short,sharp and grasping hard on you,then poof...gone. Really interesting way of telling an old familiar tale.

A real joke that he had trouble with distribution. Not surprising though. We have to seek out a good flick nowadays,while junk is at our doorstep. I will certainly keep my eyes open for his book "Self Help" I believe. Though making a film like this is all the self help any normally addled person could ever need.

This film was really something rare. Great artistic and entertainment value wrapped into one package. This film embodies everything Hollywood films have been missing over the last year. It has that indie edge and popular appeal that hasn't been evident since the early-mid nineties. I miss films like this! I was most impressed with the humor brought about by the relationships of the characters and creative exploration of comedy I don't think many film makers could have handled. I usually wait until for DVD for a second viewing, but in this case I would jump at the chance to buy another ticket. The director really showed unique vision that I hope to see more of in the future.

I was going to this movie thinking that I was about to see a head-on point of view on sons dealing with the death of their father. But this is a much more subtle film. The death of the father gives the film a mournful background on which great comedy and drama will take place.

I laughed out loud at several places and it is indeed a very funny movie but it also contain some profound thoughts and lessons of life. I love the way the sons can't deal with the death of their father and instead are concentrating on other problems in their lives making the absurd wake even more twisted. The music is great and I love this movie to bits. It is a movie which is truly complex, funny and beautiful and I really can't wait to see it again.

With 'In Memory of My Father', relatively new auteur Christopher Jaymes has created the perfect depiction of loss, depression, selfishness, love, and jealousy as applied to one family.

How do we deal with loss? We drink. We get high. We have sex. We escape from loss, but the characters in 'In Memory…' get no such escape. Even with sex, drugs, and alcohol none can escape the hell dad's death has created. It takes the length of the film for the brothers to discover what has actually happened: that they are alone, that their father is exactly the man they remember, and that they always knew it. They can't escape their past, they can't escape their present, and they're damned to a future that resembles that of their father's life. Surrounded by family, but dying alone.

The aesthetic style of 'In Memory…' evokes a slight documentary feel, much like 'The Office' and 'Arrested Development'. Characters address the cameras, but as the story progresses, we leave the device behind and focus on the drama, comedy, and the bitingly funny stirring of the soul that develops.

Witty, poignant, brilliant, filled with squeamishly uncomfortable moments and mouth-agape situations, 'In Memory…' is most honest movie to come along this year, and I only hope Jaymes is able to continue making films of this caliber.

A story of human nature... deceptively intelligent. A younger, more edgy Woody Allen. The performances are strangely human, it's difficult to tell sometimes whether they are improvised or rehearsed as the quality of performances are impressive. It's a movie that doesn't question itself.