I think I would never have been to see this movie if it hadn't been for Colin Firth. I don't love family dramas, mostly because it's always based on the parents point of view, even if the central hero is a child. As I am always on the side of the child, it seemed to me, while I was watching the movie, that I was the only one who truly see how much this child was abused.
In "My life so far", the young Fraser is caught between an irresponsible father who beats him and a mother who doesn't protect him. And even if the camera shows us his suffering and his fear, it always pushes us to to forgive and forget what has just happened. Mostly because at the same time we are expected to be bewitched by his father's desire for a French cellist. Of course he is gorgeous, and the desire we see in his eyes is breathtaking, but clearly the script wants us to love and forgive this child-like father at any cost, even at the cost of his own son. The last scene is pretty clear on that subject: the film doesn't end on Fraser but on his father, who is now so"good" to let him drink, smoke and watch pornographic photos. What is the moral of this? The father stays irresponsible and his last smile wants us to believe that he is changed and that he is a good father.
As I love Colin Firth's acting so much, I must say I am very puzzled by this movie. He plays very well indeed, that is not the problem, he has all the subtleties the character demands, but the film just doesn't amount to anything. No one really seems to care enough for Fraser and it seems that it is the only reason why the father takes up so much place in the movie. This idealized father that even Fraser calls a genius. But how could he ever say the contrary since nobody ever tells him that what he feels when he suffers is true?
In "My life so far", the young Fraser is caught between an irresponsible father who beats him and a mother who doesn't protect him. And even if the camera shows us his suffering and his fear, it always pushes us to to forgive and forget what has just happened. Mostly because at the same time we are expected to be bewitched by his father's desire for a French cellist. Of course he is gorgeous, and the desire we see in his eyes is breathtaking, but clearly the script wants us to love and forgive this child-like father at any cost, even at the cost of his own son. The last scene is pretty clear on that subject: the film doesn't end on Fraser but on his father, who is now so"good" to let him drink, smoke and watch pornographic photos. What is the moral of this? The father stays irresponsible and his last smile wants us to believe that he is changed and that he is a good father.
As I love Colin Firth's acting so much, I must say I am very puzzled by this movie. He plays very well indeed, that is not the problem, he has all the subtleties the character demands, but the film just doesn't amount to anything. No one really seems to care enough for Fraser and it seems that it is the only reason why the father takes up so much place in the movie. This idealized father that even Fraser calls a genius. But how could he ever say the contrary since nobody ever tells him that what he feels when he suffers is true?