A Loving Father (2002)
"Aime ton père" (original title)

While the whole world thinks writer Léo Shepherd is dead, he is kidnapped by his son Paul.

Director:

Jacob Berger

Writers:

Pascal Barollier, Jacob Berger,

Stars:

Gérard Depardieu, Guillaume Depardieu, Sylvie Testud

3 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Gérard Depardieu	...	Leo Shepherd
Guillaume Depardieu	...	Paul
Sylvie Testud	...	Virginia
Julien Boisselier	...	Arthur
Noémie Kocher	...	Marthe
Hiam Abbass	...	Salma
Frédéric Polier	...	Andre
Pierre-Alexandre Crevaux	...	Paul, Age 8
Pippa Schallier	...	Virginia, Age 11
Johanna Mohs	...	Pippi
Jacques Frantz	...	Antoine Levy
Sten Eirik	...	Sven Boland
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Karina Aktouf	...	Paul's fiancee
Roberto Bestazzoni	...	Policeman
Manuela Biedermann	...	Hospital nurse

Storyline

Writer Léo Shepherd lives in rural France together with his daughter Virginia, who manages his affairs. One day Virginia gets a call from the Swedish Academy. Léo has won the Nobel Prize for Literature. His estranged son Paul tries desperately to contact him, but is denied every time by his sister. When Léo starts traveling to the ceremony in Stockholm by motor bike, Paul decides to follow him and try to speak to him. Clearly Léo doesn't want to be followed, starts speeding and gets involved in a accident, but isn't badly hurt. The police confuse another motorist for Shepherd and announce his death. Paul, driven by his childhood experiences, decides to kidnap his father.

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

France Canada UK Switzerland

Language:

French English Swedish

Release Date:

13 November 2002 (France)

Also Known As:

A Loving Father

Filming Locations:

Bienne, Kanton Bern, Switzerland

Company Credits

Production Co:

Canal+, DD Productions, Enterprise Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min 103 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Fujicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The ferry scenes were actually shot on the Isle of Wight ferry England.

User Reviews

Director self-therapy

This piece can hardly be regarded as movie: some aspects suggests it is intended to be one (actors, story, materials used etc.), but actually it is self-therapy effort for director Jacob Berger, whose father was John Berger well known English writer. It seems that the father figure (or at lest his artistic success) suppressed the talent of his son, and he wanted to release himself from this pressure by talking about it. But alas he used movie as a medium instead of visiting a psychiatrist: his problem remains personal, we can not relate to it. As a movie it is very poor, full of improbabilities, primitive psychology, and one-dimensional characters. I do not think anyone can profit from seeing this movie. One from twenty-five stars.