My Father Die

"I do know that my father was a ferocious fighter, had great potential. Mama said he could have gone all the way to the top. Said the safest place for him was in the ring. She blamed America for sending him into the jungle. I blame Vietnam for not bringing him home in a box."

Raw, violent and ultra-gory. That's what "My father die", the remarkable debut of Sean Brosnan (son of the famous spy), actually has to offer in terms of content. An orgy of senseless violence. A revenge film avant la lettre. A bit like "American Muscle" where revenge was the central topic as well. The only difference is the style and look of this one compared to the previous. "American Muscle" tries to convey a seventies vibe, while "My father die" looks more stylistic. The use of black and white images in the beginning initially makes you think this is more than a typical revenge movie full of brutal scenes. Until the avenger starts his quest to put the suffering and injustice straight again.

The person who wants to take revenge is Asher (Joe Anderson). A young man who skins alligators in the backyard and who eerily looks like Kurt Cobain wearing a raccoon (I guess) headdress. In appearance anyway, because in terms of hearing this certainly isn't the case. Asher is in fact deaf, because his aggressive father Ivan (Gary Stretch) he has hit him rather harshly on his ears when he was young. And at the same time, this mentally ill brute, beats Asher's older brother Chester (Chester Rushing) to death. And this because he caught him in an intimate embrace with a local girl named Nana (Candace Smith). I suppose Ivan also had an affair with her.

Twenty years later Asher and his mother receive the news about Ivan's early release due to good behavior. That's when Asher realizes he has to carry out a major task. Look for Ivan and kill him before this madman shows up at their porch. And that's the beginning of a long chaotic and violent trip through this poor part of the U.S. The first thing that struck me in this rather pretty vacuous film, is the strong and convincing acting of the main characters. Ivan is terrifying brutal. A bully who without a blink of an eye smashes someones brain because the person got in the way. He doesn't care whether it's a cop, a gang-member or a fragile woman he's knocking down with a devastating blow. An insensible, numb and ruthless fighter. His posture and appearance is of such an extent that you step aside when he nears you. And apparently all this is the result after having fought in Vietnam.

Now, I still think Asher has inherited some of the genes of his father, because he has no compassion for those who don't want to help him find Ivan. A couple of shot off toes and wildly pounding with a shovel are the result. Because of his deafness and the fear of being called a retard when talking, Asher is deafening silent the entire movie. He doesn't say a word and he just makes use of sign language and facial expressions. Despite his sound free role, I thought it was a magnificent performance of this for me unknown actor. In addition, Candace Smith and Kevin Gage (as blood brother Tank) are certainly worth mentioning after displaying some brilliant moments.

In hindsight "My father die" isn't really a stunning film. The story-line is rather weak and the whole story looks like a hodgepodge of random events with terrible brutality not being shunned. Unfortunately, the denouement is a bit exaggerated. It looked more like a modern version of a firefight in an old cowboy movie. I'm not really a fan of this kind of exploitation films about deprived slums where futureless individuals waste their time on useless and cruel activities. And certainly not when the used violence is completely senseless, aimless and indifferent. The film surpasses "American Muscle" easily and tries to acquire a cult status as "Vanish". I didn't feel like turning it off and that's a positive sign. I am convinced that Asher's last thought contained the following sentence "It's better to burn out than to fade away".

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Asher is deaf and mute, but he wasn't always it was his abusive father that caused it to him when he was twelve, around the same time that his pops killed his brother for reasons of a sexual jealousy nature.

Ivan – the father then has to do his time in the State Pen etc. We join them on Ivan's release and how Asher now all grown up, and bursting for revenge, has decided that his daddykins is a boil that needs lancing.

Now that is a brief synopsis and this is essentially a violent thriller that did well at Frightfest. I thought it was excellent, some have complained it to being a bit 'arty', never a problem in my book and it is violent and depraved and dirty and even existentialist but all in a contextual way.

This is written, directed and has a bit part for Sean Brosnan (son of Pierce) but this is no vanity project. I found the cinematography to be well thought through and the timing of the 'action' just spot on. The actors all do a brilliant job and the story itself is as griping as it can be repulsive, so all in all some feat to have made so many differing aspects work together and work so well – one I can recommend completely.

When I think of revenge in cinema I think of "Oldboy" (2003), "Dead Man's Shoes" (2004), "Blue Ruin" (2014), "Lady Vengeance" (2004), "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance" (2002), "Django Unchained" (2012), "Kill Bill" (2003;2004) "Gangs of New York" (2002), and even "John Wick" (2014). Now after seeing this masterpiece of revenge, "My Father Die" is now on that list.

"My Father Die" is as you already know, a deep southern Gothic revenge film, and is the directorial debut of Sean Brosnan. The film starts off with two brothers (Asher and Chester) walking around talking about sex and meeting up with a girl (Nana) so that Chester can have sex with her. As Asher keeps on watch for the two his father (Ivan) pounces when he's not looking and hits him so hard upside the head that he ruptures his eardrums. Ivan then confronts Chester and beats him to death in a fit of rage while the recently deaf Asher watches. Jump twenty years later where Asher is taking care of his overly obese mother who does nothing but sit on her bed and watch the local church sermon. Ivan is recently released from prison and Asher plans to exact his revenge upon his fallen brother. And so ensues one of the best revenge films I've seen.

The film is so well acted by the entire cast, mostly the three main stars Joe Anderson (Asher), Candace Smith (Nana), and Gary Stretch (Ivan). These three actors did a magnificent job bringing their characters to life. Joe Anderson was magnificent as he never said a word in the film and yet you could empathize with his character so much. Gary Stretch was unbelievable, if you thought he was bad in "Dead Man's Shoes", you have no idea how much more bad he is in this film. Stretch is just absolutely brutal and brings so much tension and suspense in every scene he is in.

Brosnan's direction is fantastic, he never loses control of the brutal and religious aspects the movie brings. He developed the characters so well and took time to really make them feel real. The cinematography is overall very good, when it comes down to the cinematography of a very low budget film I'm not so harsh on it considering that money is not very abundant, but the film looks beautiful either way.

Throughout the film I couldn't help but see Brosnan's satire on Southern religion. I am not completely sure if it was intentional, but if it was good job. Periodically in the film a painting of Saturn eating his children is seen, which not only symbolizes the characters in the film but also gives the film a religious quality to it which I thought was interesting.

I honestly don't know what else to say, this is a great revenge film with unique characters that we empathize and despise, a great story, acting, and direction. Sean Brosnan debuted with a powerhouse of a film and I will without a doubt be looking forward to what he has in store next.

This film failed on so many levels, especially at delivering a single coherent thought.

Was not sure what to make of the synopsis of some guy who can't hear and who can't speak going after his father who murdered his brother but it turned out to be one of those real good movies that pays homage to that 1970s style of film making that all the indi filmmakers who love b-movies seem to enjoy paying homage to.

Very gritty and emotional. Well laid out film. I love the way it looked it was beautiful in it's grittiness and I loved the way it felt and I loved the music.

I was waiting for a while for this film to come out at my theater. I saw the poster and it looked great. It was worth that wait.

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